Steel in the Moonlight
by TheManWithBacon
Summary: Alexander Grey is a down-and-out young man, looking to make some money for college. When he discovers a mysterious glass orb in the garbage, he thinks it's his lucky day, until a freak accident with it ends up transporting him into an amazing adventure.
1. Dreams

**Hello, everyone. I'm actually kinda nervous posting this up, since this my first time doing anything like this, but there's a first for everything, right?**

**...Right?**

**Anyways, this is my first fanfiction, or at least the first one I've had the courage to post up on the internet, so like everyone else asks: no flames please, but reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. I hope you enjoy!**

**Also, I decided to experiment with sticking in a few songs here and there to help spice up the story a bit. You'll find the song titles in parentheses where they would begin playing in the story if you ever decide to look them up, so be sure to let me know if they fit right in, or if including songs at all interrupts the flow of the story too much.**

**Okami and related characters belong to Capcom. All of my OC's belong to me.**

**All songs/lyrics belong to their respective owners/artists.**

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><p><strong>Steel in the Moonlight: An Okami Fanfiction<strong>

**Chapter 1: Dreams**

_People talk all the time about their dreams…dreams that are little more than a confused mass of oddities and strangeness, with no sense of reality or normalcy to them at all._

_But not all dreams are like this. Sometimes…dreams are clearer than that. They can sometimes take the form of cryptic messages, telling us the answer to some long lasting problem in our lives. They can even act as windows into other worlds entirely, worlds where anything is possible._

_I have dreams like these._

_Dreams that begin with darkness, an all-consuming darkness that surrounds me and tries to pull me into the shadows. But I never go easy. I punch, kick, bite, and claw at it, fighting with all my strength even as I slowly continue to slip away._

_But every time, when my strength fails, and all of my hope is gone…a light pierces the darkness above. The shadows recoil, releasing me and receding back to where they came from._

_Every time…I get to my feet and look up into that very light, the glowing light that is neither blinding, nor dim. It comes closer to me, close enough that I could reach out and touch it, were I not so overcome by shock and awe._

_When it hovers right above me, I can hear a voice speaking softly in my head._

_Every time, it says, "Search for the place you belong."_

_The light suddenly intensifies, growing brighter and hotter, until I eventually find myself staring into the sun itself, its incredible power washing over me, blasting me away with its fury and fire._

_I always start falling at this time…but not into darkness. Every time, I'm falling from the sky._

_I can see rolling hills of grass and snow, trees and rivers, beaches and oceans. If I search hard enough, I can sometimes even see a small town or two dotting the landscape, although they seem…different somehow. Different than the towns I'm used to._

_But strangely, even though I know I'm in mortal danger…a strange sense of calm comes over me…like I've already come to terms with what has happened, and I'm simply enjoying the brief view I have of the world from a bird's-eye view._

_I always look down at this time, and note with a particular lack of concern that I'm falling towards the northern reaches of this land, towards the snowy hills and frozen mountains. As the world beneath me grows larger, my falling path takes me towards one of the larger clearings in the snowy hills, where there are no trees for miles around. The air grows colder, biting at my face and forcing me to close my eyes as I rocket towards the ground._

_But right before I hit…I feel myself slowing down._

_I touch down into the cold, yet soft snow, now lying on my side as though I were in a soft bed. At this time, I open my eyes, and see what's around me._

_Nothing...nothing but an endless sea of white, undisturbed snow beneath a sky of grey twilight. Not a single sound reaches my ears. It's perfectly quiet, with no disturbances, save the small particles of snowflakes drifting down slowly from the sky where I just came. They slowly land on me, sticking to my clothes and eventually beginning to cover me in a soft white blanket as I continue to lay there._

_But I'm not cold. I'm not hurt, or dying, or freezing to death. I'm just lying there…basking in the calm, serene radiance of it all._

_A smile crosses over my face, before I slowly close my eyes, at peace with the world around me._

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

_But sooner or later…we all have to wake up._

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

He groaned in exasperation as he slowly opened his eyes, his view drifting over to his alarm clock…which currently read 3:00 a.m.

"_Son of a…they're at it AGAIN!", _he thought angrily, sitting up in bed before turning around to pound on the wall behind him as hard as he possibly could, rattling the painting of an idyllic country sunrise on his apartment wall.

"HEY!" he shouted. "KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

The banging sound slowed, and eventually came to a stop.

"_The nerve of some people!"_ he thought, lying back down and grumbling out a long stream of colorful words before falling back asleep.

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><p><em>My name is Alexander Grey, or Alex for short. I'm the very angry and irate young man who was just interrupted from what passed as his best recurring dream these days. You've obviously heard my neighbors, but they're not important right now. What <em>is_ important is the story that I'm about to tell you._

Four hours later, his alarm clock went off precisely at 7:00 a.m. where it had been set. Opening his eyes, he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position on the side of his bed, licking his dry lips and nearly gagging at the taste of morning breath.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he took a quick look around his apartment, a part of his daily morning ritual to help him regain his bearings before usually getting up, making the bed behind him, and going to the pantry to get some breakfast.

(_Awolnation - Sail_)

_I live in the city of San Francisco in the year of 2011. I had spent the majority of my life growing up with my family in the countryside, among the rolling hills of golden grass that made up most of California's viable farmland. However, when that time came in every young adult's life, when I knew that I had outgrown the nest and felt the need to stake my own territory, I had decided to move out towards the nearest major city in order to carve out a living for myself. Therefore, I ended up in San Francisco on the coast of California, living out my life in a rented apartment in one of the many building complexes that made up the city._

From his viewpoint by the bed, he could see his entire apartment: the main room, with his bed and a desk at the foot of it that supported a positively _ancient_ computer, and the "kitchen", a tiny, separate section of the main room which supported a small mini fridge, a sink, a few cabinets, and a microwave on top. The closet was nonexistent, most of his clothes either folded in his traveling bag or strewn about the room. As for a bathroom…it was down the hall of the building, and he had to share it with several other guests on his floor, most of them simply _loving _to take their sweet time in the shower.

_As you can see, I don't exactly have the biggest apartment. The room in its entirety can be crossed in three large steps. The reason I'm even living in such a tiny, derelict postage stamp of a room is because the rent is dirt cheap, and I'm not exactly brimming with cash right now. Not in this economy._

Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the kitchen area, opening several cabinets to take out a box of cereal, a bowl, and a spoon. Pouring himself a bowl, he opened the mini fridge to make the pleasant discovery of an empty milk carton. Cursing under his breath, he took it out and tossed it in the recycling bin, taking his bowl of cereal and sitting back down on his bed as he began to eat it dry.

_I'm not entirely poor. I'm just severely strapped for cash right now. My job, pretty much the most solidified one I could find at the time, since I'm not doing odd-jobs too much anymore, pays just over minimum wage. And with rent and basic living necessities to pay for, the amount of cash I can save each month is miniscule at best. The main reason I'm saving up is for something extremely important, at least to me, given the way I was raised: college. Having finished high school several years ago, I've been saving ever since in order to pay my way into a decent college that can train me for a decent profession._

_But as you can see, things aren't going exactly as planned. Want an example? I was eighteen when I moved out of the house. Today, I'm nineteen going-on twenty. _

_Yeah…it's taking a while._

Finishing his breakfast, he tossed the bowl in the sink, grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, and carefully creaked open his door, looking out to see if anyone else was roaming the halls. As far as he could see, there was no one else out and about, and to his left, he spotted a rare sight: an open bathroom door, with no one inside. Hardly believing his luck, he immediately bolted for it and slammed the door shut behind him, planning to savor every minute of being the first person in the bathroom this morning. Looking into the mirror, he moved his head left to right as he checked his appearance out: short black hair that lay close to his head, a very light gotee that circled his mouth and covered his chin, unremarkable brown eyes, and somewhat pale skin. Everything was still there, just the way he had left it last time he had checked, so he set to work brushing his teeth without a second thought.

When he was done with his business, he strode out, receiving several dirty looks from the others who had gathered outside the bathroom in a line, waiting for their turn. Simply smiling and nodding at them, he returned to his room and started getting dressed. A quick peek out the one small window above his bed told him that the weather was going to be cold, and possibly wet as well, so he opted for blue jeans and a sweater that was the color of black with a thick red stripe running down the sides of each sleeve. Satisfied and comfortably warm, he went out into the hall, locking his door behind him, and proceeded down the rickety, graffiti-stained staircase, past the mailboxes, and out the door.

The sounds of honking cars and a cold blowing wind greeted him as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, taking in the same view that he had a hundred times before: derelict buildings, rusty fire escapes, and a handful of homeless people strewn about the nooks and crannys of the sidewalk. "_Good ole' San Francisco…"_ he thought, taking a good, long stretch…right as a freezing cold blast of wind from the coast rolled past, going right through his sweater.

"_Coldest damn city on Earth!"_ he finished, immediately hugging his arms close as a shiver ran through him. Shaking his head in irritation, he began to walk down the street, keeping his eyes pointed downward as he made his way through the small crowd of people on the sidewalk.

_No car for me, unfortunately. I make my way around the city either by walking there, or taking the tram. I don't mind though. Walking helps me get my thoughts in order and think about my life as it is right now._

_I'm barely making any money at all, living off the wages of a dead-end job, and I'm trying to get to college with such meager savings. Things aren't looking good, but I know that if I just hold on, I'll eventually get out of this place._

_For now, I'm just toughing it out. That's all I can really do._

"Spare change, mister?" a voice said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Huh?" came Alex's reply, as he looked at the man sitting down in the crook between two buildings, wearing a beat-up looking coat and holding a small can with a few coins and several bills inside.

"Spare change?" the man, clearly homeless, repeated for him.

"Oh…sorry man. I'm saving up for college," Alex said, shrugging apologetically.

"Eh?" the man asked, looking up with a slightly interested look on his face. "Welp…that's alright then. You can keep your money, I won't bother ya."

"Sure...thanks man," came Alex's grateful reply, as he waved down a nearby tram and hopped on, heading straight for the docks.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I know, kind of a short and descriptive chapter, but it's my first fanfic and the beginning of the story, so cut me some slack :D<strong>

**Anyways, things will heat up a bit in the future once I start writing more of this down, so hang in there and thanks for reading!**


	2. One Man's Trash

**Wassup, ya'll?**

**Holy CRAP this is a long chapter. I guess it's cause I really got into writing out this one, but still, it's longer than most college essays I've had to write O.o'**

**Anyways, comment and review if you want, and enjoy!**

**And thank you Pinkdesi101, for not only giving me my first review, but a positive one as well! ^.^**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: One Man's Trash…<strong>

Getting off the tram once it had slowed down enough, Alex stood there on the side of the street staring at the imposing group of large buildings and warehouses in front of him.

_The docks of San Francisco Bay. This is where the money-making happens…what little there is._

Walking forward, he came up to the security checkpoint, taking notice of the mustached man in uniform sitting in the booth, reading today's newspaper. "Hey Jim," Alex said to him, flashing his ID.

"Hey pal," Jim replied, glancing up from the paper long enough to confirm the ID before hitting the button to raise the gate.

_My job on the San Francisco docks is, along with my "crew", to make sure that the garbage barges going in and out of the bay daily have their loads evenly distributed so that a rogue wave or something doesn't tip the whole thing over or spill any garbage into the ocean. Not the most glamorous job, as you've probably guessed, but at least it pays._

Passing between the large buildings, dodging cranes and large stacks of giant storage units, he made for the large windowed building where the employee lockers were contained, looking forward to getting out of the extremely frigid ocean air. It was getting close to winter, and San Francisco, already cooled off by the ocean air currents, was getting colder and colder by the day. Alex noted with some dismay that he would soon start having to grab his old, weather-beaten coat off the rack each morning.

_The good part about this job is that the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," has never rung more true. You never know what interesting things you'll find among all that garbage. Why, just last week, my co-worker Tommy found an entire crateload of –_

_Oh wait…I'm getting distracted. Nevermind, I'll tell you later._

Pushing open the door, Alex walked in and promptly shivered as the warm inside air hit him, immediately counteracting the freezing cold that had settled around his body. Walking down the hallway, he located the room where his crew's equipment was located and strode in.

"Hey rookie, what's shakin'?" came the care-free greeting. Looking over, Alex saw a man with shoulder-length hair sitting on the wooden bench, pulling his work boots on.

_Rookie…that's my nickname. Seeing as how I joined up with this job several months ago, I'm still considered to be somewhat of a "new guy" among the gang. That, and being the youngest member tends to contribute to it as well._

_As for the man…that's Tommy Johnson. He talks like your stereotypical hippie, and with hair like Willie Nelson's, kinda looks like one too. But he's cool…he's the hard-working, friendly kind of guy that everyone likes…except the crew chief. He hates everyone._

"Not much, Tommy. How 'bout you?"

"Just chillin' before the grind, man."

Behind Alex walked in a man with a shaved head and a short chin strap for facial hair. Several tattoos could be seen crawling up and down the side of his neck and shoulder. In his hands were two Styrofoam cups of coffee.

"Hey Tom, here's that coffee ya wanted," he said, a notable Bostonian accent in his voice.

"Thanks, man."

_That's James Richardson. He's done time in the slammer before, but got out early for good behavior. What was his crime, you might be asking? Well, no one knows. Every time someone asks him, he changes the story._ _Now, he's just looking to shape up his act, and ended up working here when no one else would take him. Being an ex-criminal must suck big-time._

"'Sup, man?" James said, turning to Alex and sharing a brofist with him. James was the closest to Alex's age in the crew, with only four years in between them, so the two men naturally shared a sort of comradeship.

Alex turned to his locker, dialing in the combination before popping the door open, revealing his bright orange sanitation jumpsuit, complete with reflectors along the chest and back, and numerous hooks and pockets for tools and other things. Below was a pair of heavy work boots sized just for him, with some work gloves resting on top. After taking off his shoes, he grabbed the suit and slipped it on with the shoes and gloves quickly following, each motion calm and practiced from daily repetition.

When he finished getting dressed, as if on cue, a middle aged man with crew cut hair (which was showing signs of whitening) and what seemed to be a permanently flushed face came barging in, causing Alex, Tommy, and James to immediately stand up.

"Alright, maggots!" he barked out, eyeing them all. "We've got a big load to sort through today, so I want to see each and every one of your collective rears in gear! Is that understood?"

"Sure man, whatever," Tommy replied, looking uninterested. The middle aged man scowled at Tom, looking like he desperately wanted to throttle long-haired man, but said nothing.

_That's Lee Jones, head chief of our little crew, and boy does he have a chip on his shoulder. There was a rumor going around, back when I first got the job, that he used to be a drill sergeant in the army. I didn't believe it at the time, but after a few days of him breathing down my throat and inventing my nickname of Rookie, I realized that it wasn't a rumor._

"Let's go! Move it!" Lee barked out, and the crew slowly filed out the door towards the pier.

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><p>Standing in a line along the edge of the pier, equipment in hand, they watched as the empty barge pulled up, other dock workers hurrying to secure the lines and pull the ship in closer. Once in position, the man operating the loading crane nearby fired the machine up and began to slowly scoop large amounts of garbage from a nearby collection of bins into the ship's main holding compartment.<p>

"Alright, let's get to work!" Lee shouted over the noise of the crane. "Come on Rookie, double-time!" he added, directing his voice towards Alex who promptly sped up his walk. Climbing up over the ship railing and walking down into the holding bin, they set to work, using a variety of shovels and rakes to begin smoothing out the pile as the crane continued to put more in, careful not to crush anyone underneath each load. The smell quickly grew to be pretty rank, but the four men were all used to it by now.

"See anything good yet?" Alex called out.

"Nothing but diapers, diapers, and more diapers," James replied in disgust. "How many diapers did this kid go through before his parents finally threw them out?"

"You'd be surprised, son…" Lee said, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "Kids go through these things faster than a chain-loading helicopter door gun."

"Oh yeah, forgot to ask, Lee!" Tommy spoke up, turning towards the older man. "How's the family doing?"

"Kid's fine…and so's the wife," Lee replied, pushing several large garbage bags off the top of the pile with the flat end of his rake. "They got it out of her in time, and they don't' think its malignant."

"Really?"

"Thank God!"

"That's great to hear!" came the chorus of replies from the other three.

"Yeah…" Lee said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Yeah, it is."

They continued to work into the afternoon, taking a small break for lunch before immediately setting back to work. The garbage pile increased in size until the mounds began to get higher than the sides of the barge's holding container, but otherwise the mood had lightened considerably from Lee's good news.

"Hey, look!" Tommy exclaimed later on, leaning down to grab something. "I found an eye patch!" he said with all the giddiness of a kid on Christmas before slipping it on and showing it off, much to the humor of Alex and James, who immediately busted out laughing at how ridiculous the man looked.

"Put that down, Tom!" came Lee's eventual chastisement. "You don't know where that's been!"

"Yar har har!" Tommy laughed in a horrible imitation of a pirate. "I be the scourge o' the Seven Seas!" Stumbling around and missing a great deal of his depth perception from now being blind in one eye, Tommy didn't notice the particular pile of garbage he was heading towards, precariously close to the edge of the barge.

"Hey Tommy, watch out!"

"Oof!" the man shouted, tripping over the pile. He swayed about a moment off-balance, but pin-wheeled his arms and managed to keep from tipping over the left side of the boat into the water. The garbage wasn't so lucky, however, a good deal of it going over the side where it could be heard plopping and splashing into the bay below.

"You idiot!" Lee shouted. "Rookie!" he barked, turning to Alex. "Clean up his mess."

"But…!" came the protest.

"You're the one on net duty this week, Rookie! You're the one who cleans up anything that falls off!"

Alex heaved an aggravated sigh, picking up the net from where his equipment was laid out and stomping over to where the garbage had spilled over. Tommy, having recovered from his accident, lifted the eye patch up, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry, man," he apologized, to which Alex grumbled in a grudging acceptance.

Taking the net in hand, Alex began to reach down and scoop up the floating garbage that wasn't already out of reach while Lee called Tommy over to where he stood, likely to give the man the chewing out of a lifetime.

_Yeah…crazy bunch of guys I work with. Not exactly the most tightly knit group, but we get along just fine. Little accidents like this happen occasionally, but we all do our part overall._

_Little did I know, however, that this small "accident" of Tommy's was about to get a LOT bigger._

Bringing the net down to scoop up more of the garbage, Alex caught the briefest glint of orange light out of the corner of his eye.

"_Huh?"_ he thought. Pushing a few things around in the water, Alex managed to catch another brief glint among the floating garbage.

Leaning over the edge for a closer look, he could see a small, round object covered in what looked to be the brownish remains of old wet newspaper, part of it exposed to the air which he could see when it rolled around to the surface of the water.

"_What the hell is that?"_ he wondered, bringing the net around and gently scooping it up, surprised by how light it felt as he brought the net back up to the ship deck. Dumping the contents out, he slowly reached over and grabbed the spherical object…and noticed that the paper that was wrapped around it was already drying off.

"_That can't be right…I just took it out of the water a few seconds ago!"_ he thought, now fully intrigued by the mystery object he held. Looking over his shoulders, he checked up on his co-workers to see if they had noticed what he was doing. James was taking a quick break, standing on the side of the barge with hands in his pockets and big things on his mind, as he looked out at the horizon where the sun was setting. Lee was still chewing Tommy out, waving his arms around furiously while Tommy simply stood there with a bored look on his face, having heard it all before.

Looking back to the object in his hands, Alex quickly put it down and pulled his gloves off for better hand dexterity. Picking the sphere back up, he could definitely feel a palpable warmth through the old newspaper wrapping, now fully dry.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he grabbed a loose end of the wrapping and began to pull it down. When it came free, he began pulling more pieces off, his pace quickening as he stripped the layers away, revealing more and more of the reddish-orange light beneath.

When the last piece fell away, the breath caught in his throat.

What he was holding in his very hands was a fist-sized, perfectly round, and smooth glass sphere, with no dings, scrapes, or imperfections whatsoever on its surface. What really had his attention, however, was within the sphere itself: at its very core, glowing with the same warm light that had drawn him to it in the first place, was a symbol that resembled the same type of writing system that the Japanese or Chinese used. He couldn't tell which one it was specifically, but he could definitely tell that it was Oriental in nature.

"_What IS this?" _he thought again. _"Is that supposed to be some kind of Japanese kanji symbol or something?"_

Rotating the sphere for a look at its other dimensions, he was surprised to find that the kanji symbol remained static, always in a position where he could see it as though it were written down on paper. And now that the orb itself was exposed to the air, he realized that the warmth emanating from it had intensified, and was now drying the moisture off his jumpsuit. Inside the aura of the sphere, he actually felt somewhat warm and comfortable, despite the fact that it was easily below sixty degrees out today.

"_Okay…this is _definitely_ not something normal,"_ he concluded. He pondered the idea of showing it to the other guys, but something made him stop.

That was exactly it, he realized…it _wasn't _a normal item. Tommy's eye patch was normal, but _this_? He had no idea how the guys would react to such a find.

Noticing that the argument between Lee and Tommy was winding down, Alex quickly unzipped his jumpsuit and stuffed the orb into the frontal pouch of his sweater, immediately feeling its warmth through the fabric. Zipping the suit back up, he stood up and went back to work cleaning the garbage out of the water, acting as though nothing had happened.

When their shift ended at about 8:00 p.m., the four men, now reeking of diaper-filled garbage, said their goodbyes to each other back in the locker room before gathering their belongings and heading out the door. Alex decided to fake a visit to the bathroom so that he could wait until everyone was done with their stuff and had left, so that he could change out of his own jumpsuit and no one would see the bulge in his sweater caused by the mysterious orb he had found.

With all his equipment stashed away in his locker, Alex was heading for the door when he was intercepted by Tommy on the way out.

"Hey, Alex!" he called out. Walking over, Alex reluctantly chose to stop for him, suddenly very self-conscious about what he was hiding. "Me and a few buddies are gonna play some poker at my place tonight. You feel like making some money towards that college of yours?" he said with a laugh and a few friendly nudges.

Feigning a chuckle, Alex said "No thanks, man. I'd rather hold onto what I've got for now."

"You sure, man? The wife's gonna be making that lasagna you like so much for all of us. You don't want to miss out on _that_, do ya man?" Tommy asked, nudging him again.

Suddenly feeling a bit annoyed with Tommy holding him up, which was strange considering that he always found Tommy to be enjoyable company, Alex shook his head vigorously. "No thanks man," he repeated. "I'm just gonna take it easy tonight. I think I might have caught something out there today, 'cause I'm not feeling to well all of the sudden." As if on cue, he sudden felt a sneeze well up in him, and he turned away to let fly with it.

Once he was done, Tommy was nodding his head. "Alright man, but we're gonna miss you tonight. Take it easy, okay?"

"Sure, you too," Alex mumbled, before dashing out the door and discovering to his dismay that it had started raining.

Once he had made it back to his apartment building, what had begun as a light rain had managed to increase to a total downpour. There were few people out on the street in front, and those who were all had umbrellas that were doing a rather poor job of keeping the deluge off. Alex had expected himself to be frozen solid by the time he came home in the freezing cold and massive rainfall, but the orb he secretly carried had kept him in moderate comfort throughout the tram ride home. Not only that, but when he got in the door of his apartment and turned the single hanging light bulb on, he discovered that his clothes were already dry, despite have been completely soaked just a minute before.

"_Pretty handy little thing,"_ he thought, as he took his shoes off and walked over to his ancient computer, booting it up and making himself a quick microwavable dinner from the mini-fridge while he waited. Sitting down in the chair with fork and dinner in hand, he munched away while getting onto the internet to check his bank statement.

"_Let's see…"_ he began, looking over the web page once he had finally managed to log in. _"If I have that much in the bank…"_ he thought, moving the cursor over the pitiful amount he had saved in his account, _"…and I need about, say, this much to get into college…"_ he continued, doing the math in his head, _"…then I'm gonna be stuck here for…"_

He stopped, and redid the math again, making sure he wasn't wrong. _"…another two years, at least,"_ he finished, slumping back in his chair with a groan and burying his hands in his face.

An entire two years at _least_, before he could pull himself out of this pit with only the bare essentials. It was a daunting prospect, especially since he had been living in the city for the better part of the last two years already.

Well, he certainly wasn't going to ask his family for money, or to move back in. After the "incident" at home that had caused him to move out in the first place, right on his eighteenth birthday, he wasn't going to go back, not in a million years. And he probably couldn't rely on student loans either…he'd most likely end up getting screwed later on down the road when the time to pay those very loans off came around.

"_Money…"_ he thought with disgust. It was always about money. The whole world practically revolved around the simple pieces of paper or metal coins. If you didn't get a job and have enough of the small objects, you were basically screwed…and right now, that's how Alex felt: screwed. Completely and utterly _screwed._

"_Hope…"_ he suddenly heard, a faint whisper that he barely caught on the edge of his hearing.

"Wha...?" he began, startled out of his thoughts. "Who said that?" he asked out loud.

"_Cannot…lose…hope…"_

Reaching into his sweater pouch, he pulled out the orange glowing orb, staring at it with an accusing sort of look on his face. "Was it you…?" he whispered.

If it _was_ the orb, it gave no indication of it, the inner light simply continuing to swirl around the kanji symbol in the center.

"_I must be going crazy…"_ he thought, staring into the orb's swirling depths. A sudden flash outside his window broke his concentration, followed by a loud rolling thunderclap that shook the glass in the pane as well as his insides.

"_Big storm tonight,"_ he concluded, turning to his computer and bringing up a web page that supported an online radio. After a few minutes of waiting for a signal to establish, followed by a stream of impatient curses, he was finally able to bring up a weather station and sat back to listen to the broadcast.

"To all people living on southern west coast," the reporter began, "There is a severe thunderstorm warning in the San Francisco region of the west coast of California. Sudden power surges and blackouts are to be expected, so everyone is advised to turn off and unplug any electrical appliances to avoid risk of electrical damage and fire hazards. I say again…" The message continued to repeat itself, and Alex lost interest, his gaze drifting back towards the orb in his hand.

"_I wonder how much this could potentially sell for…"_ he thought, an idea beginning to form in his head. _"Maybe it's made of some extremely rare material that gives it its glow, and it's worth an absolute fortune to the right people. If I can get enough money for it, I could buy my way out of here and maybe even have enough for a college dorm room!"_

"_Or maybe…" _he thought again, rubbing his chin, "_…maybe it's some kind of ancient artifact that gives special powers to the person who carries it…in my case, protection from the elements," _he thought with a chuckle as another thunderclap rolled through the room again, causing the single light bulb to flicker.

The brief interruption in his light suddenly gave him another idea. _"I wonder how bright this thing can glow in the dark?" _he thought._ "Maybe that'll affect its value."_

Reaching up, he grabbed the cord on the light bulb and shut it off before reaching forward and hitting the power button on his computer monitor, leaving him in total darkness save for the soft orange light emanating from the orb.

At first, nothing much happened; the orb continued to glow softly in the dark, perhaps a little brighter, but only due to the lack of other light sources.

Then slowly, as if in response to the sudden darkness around it, the light began to noticeably intensify. It grew brighter and brighter, filling the room with its soft reddish-orange light. Alex quickly found himself needing to squint and lean away as the orb grew bright enough to start hurting his eyes, not yet adjusted to the sudden changes in light levels.

When they finally did adjust, he looked back to see himself holding what looked to be an orb of pure golden light in his hands, pulsing gently along with his heartbeat. The room itself was also lit up in the same golden light, but somewhat unevenly he realized. It was the same kind of scintillating light one would see projected on the wall behind a fish aquarium, distorted and shifting due to the water refracting the light. Still, it was a beautiful sight to see, the glittering, shifting lights playing out in an intriguing pattern along his walls.

It took him a minute to realize that it actually wasn't the light that was shifting. Looking closer, he suddenly discovered that it was _the shadows themselves_ that were moving, in a pattern all of their own.

(_Audiomachine – Creation_)

His eyes wide, he watched as a small mass of the shadows coalesced on the left side of the wall by his bed, near the floor, its shape changing and refining itself into a clearer image…one that eventually became that of a four-legged creature, still plastered to the wall in two dimensions.

The shape continued to refine itself, growing more distinct, until Alex could see that it had taken on the shape of some kind of dog, its pointed ears, muzzle, and long tail easily apparent to him.

"_No…not a dog…a wolf!" _he realized, as the animal arched its head up to the nonexistent sky and let off a long, powerful howl to what could only be guessed as the moon, more shadows having come together to form a small, black sphere in the "sky" of the scene that was quickly turning into a wall diorama inside his very apartment!

"_I actually head that howl too..." _he realized just now, distracted as he was. He had heard the sound as a faint echo, not quite as loud as the real thing probably, but it still had its intended effect. _"Is this thing actually playing the sounds of this scene for me?"_ he wondered, continuing to watch.

More shadows came together, driven by the power of the orb, this time forming into the shape of a tall, burly man with spiky hair, wearing loose-fitting clothing. He carried what could only be described as a massive two-handed sword, with what appeared to be a small flower bulb growing out of the top edge of the blade. He strode forward confidently, taking up a position by the wolf, and the two of them settled into a fighting stance.

Listening closely, Alex could actually _hear_ the sound of the wolf growling.

Even more shadows came together now, drawn from all corners of the room by the orb. Swirling together into a giant mass far bigger than the two figures already there, they formed what looked like some kind of large, rocky platform with a large Japanese-style archway on top of it, a massive bell suspended from the center.

It was huge, taking up an entire corner of the room as it splayed itself across two walls, and Alex could only watch with a mixture of intrigue and twinge of horror as long, thick tendrils, about eight in total, grew from the sides of the platform, reaching out until they touched the floor. Stopping there, each tendril began to shudder violently until suddenly, a massive serpentine head grew from the end of each one. Hissing and writhing as they all began to lift up into a striking position, they let off a simultaneous roar that, while only a moderately loud echo for Alex, must have been deafening to the two small figures facing it, given the way that they recoiled.

Quickly recovering, the two figures immediately launched themselves at the monster, brandishing sword and fang alike. The swordsman leaped high into the air, swinging his weapon at the neck of one of the monster's many heads, but was promptly rebuffed as the head struck forward with blinding speed, hitting the man with its blunt nose and causing him to fly backwards and land heavily on the ground. Clutching his stomach and clearly winded, the man looked up to see the wolf, clearly no ordinary canine, dodging gracefully in between each of the striking, snarling heads of the beast. Shadowy flowers sprung up in its steps as it sped along, swinging an odd disc-like weapon that had sudden appeared above its back, cutting deep lines into the giant monster.

Unfortunately, the entrancing display of battle was cut short when biggest head of the monster, apparently the strongest of the bunch, launched a mighty ball of what looked to be the shadowy impersonation of _fire_. The massive explosion, which Alex clearly heard as well, was barely dodged by the incredible wolf, forcing it to jump back out of harm's way.

Landing next to the swordsman, who had managed to recover by now, Alex saw the two look at each other and share the barest hint of a nod before charging back into the fray.

This time, however, something in the scene changed, and Alex saw more shadows coming together to form what looked to be some kind of large jar…a clay urn, he realized, bearing another kind of kanji symbol on its side. Intrigued by this new development, Alex watched as the urn tipped over, spilling out its liquid contents on the ground. The wolf then lifted its tail in the air, some kind of other liquid dripping from its tip, and the entire scene suddenly froze.

Alex watched in awe as a giant shadowy paintbrush in the form of the wolf's tail appeared and began to drag what he quickly realized was some kind of ink across the scene, leading from the puddle of liquid spilling from the urn straight into one of the giant monster's roaring mouths.

The scene unfroze, and the line of ink was suddenly replaced by a stream of the liquid, shooting down the monster's throat and causing it to choke for a moment. Wobbling unsteadily, the head opened its mouth for a counterattack, only to have more of the liquid forced down its throat, causing it to waver and collapse on the ground with a loud _thud, _its tongue lolling out of its mouth. It dawned on Alex that the liquid must be some kind of alcohol, and judging from the undeniable Japanese theme of everything else he had seen, it could only have been one kind of alcohol: _sake_.

Over and over, the monster either roared angrily or attempted some form of devastating attack, only to have more of the potent sake shoved down its throat. The intoxication of each separate head began to have a cumulative effect on the body of the monster as a whole, with each unaffected head becoming more unsteady, and their movements slower and more sluggish. Noticing this, the man and the wolf doubled their attack effort, hacking and slashing and biting in a fantastic dance of blood and death among the writhing mass of monstrous heads. Alex could only watch, entranced as he was, as one by one, each head collapsed in a battered and bloody mess, having fallen to the relentless onslaught of the man and his canine companion.

But even in victory, potential defeat suddenly reared its ugly head, eight times over, as the beast summoned its remaining strength and blasted the two fighters away with a wave of dark energy, knocking them both back again. The eight heads, many of their shadowy images bearing marks and empty spots where their wounds would be, unleashed one final roar of defiance against their mortal enemies as it prepared to obliterate them both.

At this time, the swordsman lowered his weapon to his side, and raised his hand to the sky.

"_The time has come!" _Alex heard him shout, his voice echoing from the orb itself. _"O sacred moon of the heavens, come forth and pierce this darkness! Bear witness to the beast's demise upon my trusty sword Tohenboku!"_

As if on cue, the wolf at his side raised its head to the sky, unleashing another mighty howl, and the moon near the ceiling of Alex's room suddenly sprung to life, the shadows forming beams of "light" that radiated down upon the scene playing out on the wall. Feeling the power of the scene as it reached its climax, Alex stood up with his heart pounding and his mind racing.

The man's sword, raised up into the beams of moonlight, slowly began to glow itself, the shadows creating a similar light effect for it as they had done for the moon. Bringing it to bear, the man lowered it to a striking position near his side, the flower bulb on top now in full bloom.

"_Susano-style BLADE OF TRUTH!"_ he bellowed, lunging forward towards the eight-headed beast.

Unable to defend itself against the man's incredible speed, one of the beast's heads was sliced clean off by a single stroke of the man's glowing moon-charged blade, his strike amplified by the wolf's power as it drew slashing lines of ink in turn with every one of the man's strikes. Hitting the ground and lunging forward again, another head met the same fate, and another followed soon after. Strike after strike, each head fell to the mighty swordsman, falling the ground in a quickly growing pile.

Soon, only the largest head remained, frantically looking around at the decapitated trunks of its brethren before issuing one final, defiant roar to the sky. The wolf dashed forward, intent on finishing the fight, but before it got within striking range, an outstretched hand from the swordsman stopped it.

"_No, Fido!"_ Alex heard him say. _"I don't need your help this time!"_

"_Now for the ultimate in Susano-Style martial arts...!" _the man continued, bringing his sword up over his head, the glowing tip of it meeting his left hand. "…_Celestial Cleaver!"_

With a mighty battle cry, the man leapt higher than Alex had ever seen him go, sword in both hands and poised for a massive downward strike. Slamming it into the monster's skull, the blade cut downward all the way through the head and kept going, through the neck and hitting the floor.

At first, nothing happened. Alex squinted, wondering if the swordsman had actually missed.

Then, suddenly, the entire length of the head and neck split into two perfectly even halves, both collapsing to the groud. The entire body of the beast began jerking wildly, pieces of its shadowy body falling off and disappearing, before its entire form violently disintegrated, the shadows that its body consisted of scattering to all corners of the room in a whirlwind of madness.

Unable to take it anymore, Alex quickly turned the light back on, and the shadows, the scintillating light, and the echoing voices immediately vanished, as though they had never existed. The orb also returned back to "normal", resuming its warm orange glow.

"What…the…_hell_…" he whispered to himself, staring at the orb with confusion and a bit of fear written all over his face. "What IS this thing?" he asked himself for the third time that day. He was definitely beginning to get freaked out by the mysterious glass orb. If fact, he realized, if he wasn't so deep in the hole right now, he would have thrown the potentially valuable orb out the window right this second and watched it shatter across the pavement outside.

Sighing loudly, he sat back down on his desk chair and just continued to stare at the orb in front of him. _"I'll hold on to it until tomorrow, and get it appraised at that jeweler shop down the street," _he began to plan. _"I don't care how little he offers for it, because I'm selling this creepy-ass thing as soon as I can!"_

Suddenly, another bolt of lightning flashed outside, dangerously close to his building. The thunderclap was so massive that it shook the entire inside of his apartment and caused the single light bulb in his room to go out.

"_Cheap-ass wiring!"_ he thought angrily, but his thoughts quickly turned back to the orb as it began to glow brighter again, the young man realizing that he was again shrouded in complete darkness.

"_Oh no, not again!"_ he complained, turning to his computer to switch the monitor back on, in hopes that its light would stop the orb from playing out some other freaky scene about god-knows-what.

Right as his hand made contact with the button, however, another bolt of lightning struck. This time, the powerful bolt of electricity hit the power cording that was strewn out and hanging directly above the roof of the apartment complex, racing down the wiring as fuses and electrical sockets throughout the building either blew or fried.

One such jolt of electricity raced through the power socket in Alex's room, going up the power cord to his computer, and straight into his arm that was touching the power button.

"AUUUUGHHH!" he shouted, thrown backwards out of his chair as the powerful bolt shot through his body…and the orb he was still holding.

His entire body having gone rigid and completely numb, every muscle in it trembling and seized up tight, he gasped for breath as he fought to lift his head to see what happened. Even though everything had gone fuzzy, the shock having hit his brain as well, he still retained enough sense to realize that the room had suddenly begun to smell strongly of smoke.

It took nearly every ounce of his strength and willpower, but he just barely managed regain enough control in his neck muscles to lift his head a few inches off the ground, and see two things.

First, his hand had completely locked around the orb in a death-grip, unable to let go despite screaming protests from his severely shocked brain. The orb itself had been affected as well, the light inside it fluctuating wildly…with electricity beginning to arc around the kanji symbol.

Second, and far more pressing at the time, was the fact that his entire computer had burst into flames. Quickly spreading across his desk, several sparks shot off and landed on his bed nearby, and the sheets began to smolder and smoke themselves.

Already hard-pressed for air, his lungs barely responding, Alex began to cough and choke as the room filled with smoke and roaring flames. He fought to try and turn over, to begin crawling away to safety, but his electricity-shocked body refused to respond. He heard shouting outside in the hallway and nearby rooms as the other people in the building began to react to the sudden loss of electricity. He tried to shout for help, but his lack of air combined with his coughing from the smoke stopped that before it even began.

"_Oh God…"_ he thought frantically, surprisingly clear despite his brain being fuzzy from the shock. _"I'm going to die! I'm stuck, and I can't do anything! I'm gonna burn to death!"_

Suddenly, he felt an enormous throb reverberate through his body.

Forcing himself to look up again, Alex saw the mysterious orb he still had in a death-grip glowing brightly as it had in the dark. This time however, the pulses of energy were incredibly strong, so strong that they were causing his entire body to jerk even though it was paralyzed from the neck down by the electrical shock.

A brilliant aura of light began to gather around the orb, and slowly begun to expand more and more with each pulse. The roar of the flames were drowned out, the only sound now reaching Alex's ears being a loud hum emanating from the orb itself as it gathered energy. The aura continued to expand, beginning to engulf his left hand and arm that held the orb and continuing to include the rest of his body. A spark from the fire flew off the now-burning bed and fell towards Alex, but was deflected away by the golden aura that surrounded him, now working its way up towards his head.

The last thing he saw before the light fully engulfed him was the entire back wall of the apartment going up in flames, taking out the picture of the idyllic country sunrise on his wall.

Already shocked by the electricity, the blinding light overloaded Alex's brain and shut his body down, causing him to immediately black out.

* * *

><p><strong>Oooooo, major development alert! O.o<strong>

**Anyways, I'm toying around with the idea of whether I should update on a regular basis or whenever I have a few chapters done ahead of time, but as long as you people like this story, I'll keep updating!**

**So comment and review if ya want ;D and I'll see you next time!**


	3. Journey of a Thousand Miles

**Hey everyone, I'm back! Sorry this took a little while for me to get in, but my friend (who's working out of town for the CCC) just blew in for the first time in a month, and I just HAD to go and visit him to catch up, which prevented me from writing anything for about 2 days.**

**But I hope you find this chapter worth the wait, cause this is where things start getting good! And if there are any among you who are actually listening to the music I put in here along with the story, you can probably find most of the songs or soundtracks of youtube, since that's where I find most of them myself. Any song I put in here, you'll most likely find there.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: The Journey of a Thousand Miles<strong>

_At first, there was only darkness._

_And then…a voice._

"_Search for the place you belong."_

Alex cracked his eyes open, squinting as he looked up into a perfectly clear blue sky, complete with a bright sun that radiated warmth down on him.

From what he could tell, he was lying on his back with only the sight of the sky and the sound of leaves rustling in a faint breeze apparent to him. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the chirping of birds as well. Turning his eyes to see what was around him, he could see some small white flowers next to his head, shifting in the breeze and bumping against his face.

His first thought was _"Am I dead?"_

Lifting his arms, which now responded to his commands, he experimentally flexed his hands as he looked them over to check for injuries. Seeing none, he tried moving his legs and found that they had also recovered, his shoes making a rustling sound as he dragged them through the plant life that surrounded his body, as he continued to lie there.

"_Well, everything checks out…but that was one hell of a shock I got. And the fire…" _he remembered. _"Last thing I remember was the fire…and that bright light from the orb…it did _something."

Shifting around, he slowly sat up, careful not to aggravate any injuries or possible burns he might have sustained…but when he saw what was around him, he suddenly stopped with a surprised jerk.

"_Ok…"_ he thought. _"Either I somehow ended up in that oriental garden preserve across town…or I'm not in San Francisco anymore."_

He was sitting in a small field of white flowers that had grown high enough to reach his shoulders in his current position, and all around in a nearly perfect circle was a ring of Japanese cherry trees in full bloom, their violently pink blossoms creating an explosion of color in the clearing. Beyond the cherry trees, surrounding the entire clearing, were tall imposing trees of a more normal type, with thick trunks and green leaves. If he had to guess, he figured that he was in a forest clearing of some kind.

Where that clearing exactly _was_, however, remained to be seen.

"_At least I woke up someplace nice…wherever the hell this 'place' is,"_ he thought. And indeed, this clearing in the forest _was_ nice: A soft breeze carried with it the sound of chirping birds, flitting happily from tree to tree, and rustled the leaves in a pleasant manner while petals from the cherry trees came free, floating down beams of sunlight filtering through the trees before gently coming to rest on the bed of white flowers.

Watching the scenery for a minute, Alex eventually stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes while he considered his next action.

"_I have NO idea where that orb took me, but for all I know, I could be miles away from civilization. Speaking of which…"_ he suddenly remembered, feeling a familiar weight in his sweater pocket.

Reaching in, his hand closed around the glass sphere, but what he pulled out made him frown in confusion. What was once a brightly glowing orange glass sphere complete with rotating kanji symbol was now just an empty, dull grey ball of polished glass. Nothing out of the ordinary reached Alex's eyes as he examined it, and he let off an aggravated sigh as he pocketed it. _"Guess there's no going back, at least in any way that uses this thing," _he thought. _"I suppose I'll just have to get moving sometime soon and hope that I can find a gas station or something around here."_

But when he looked up, he stopped again, putting his hands on his hips as he looked around. He was completely surrounded by the tall forest trees and had no idea where he was, meaning that he was essentially going to be wandering around blind. But he had no food, no water, no provisions whatsoever, and by the way his stomach suddenly started growling, he would have to find some soon.

"_Well…guess I'll just pick a direction and start walking."_ Facing what he guessed was "North", he closed his eyes and pointed forwards with his right hand.

"Eenie, meenie, minee, mo…" he said, turning in a circle before stopping and opening his eyes. Ahead lay a dense patch of forest, the branches above it blocking out some of the sunlight and giving it a rather darkened appearance.

"Well…here goes…" he muttered to himself, before setting off.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, which he discovered after checking his watch, his mood had worsened by a significant amount. With the hot midday sun now beating down on his head every time he went through a clearing, he had been forced to take off his sweater and tie it around his waist, exposing his arms that now bore numerous small cuts and bruises from having to constantly push through the thick underbrush. One cut in particular was bothering him immensely, located across his right cheek where a branch had whipped him when he had tried to push past without holding it back right.<p>

Fortunately, his legs had been spared a similar fate since he was wearing thick protective blue jeans, but it was a small comfort compared to his growling stomach and parched throat, both of which were steadily getting worse as the day went by. Not only that, but every muscle in his body ached from having to constantly cross over uneven terrain. He was used to crossing long distances over paved roads and such, but this was just _murder._

Stopping beneath the shade of a large tree, he sat down on a nearby rock and rested his aching feet, leaning back against the tree trunk as he looked up into the bright blue sky above.

"_I wonder what the guys are doing right now…" _he thought, as his mind began to wander. _"I'll bet Lee is totally pissed off at me right now for missing work without calling it in. I might even get fired…"_ he realized, looking downward as the sobering thought came to mind. _"Then again, there WAS a fire in my building…maybe since they can't find my body, I'll be declared dead, or missing. Mom and dad are probably worried sick about me…well, maybe Mom at least."_

He sat there for a few minutes, simply resting and watching a cloud drift by in the small patch of sky he could see through the branches as he listened to the various sounds of the forest around him.

Suddenly, one of those very sounds stuck out to him, extremely faint from being a good distance away and nearly drowned out by the other noises of the forest. But he heard it, a sound like the rustling of the leaves, but more consistent. Straining to hear, he stood up and began walking towards the sound, pushing through a particularly thick patch of growth that led into an even darker part of the forest where the sun barely shone through.

The sound grew louder as Alex made his way through the dark avenues between the trees, his pace quickening. Almost moving at a run, he suddenly skidded to a stop as he spotted an tunnel-like opening through the thick brush, lit up brightly at the end by the sun. The sound was coming through there, and Alex, out of breath, stopped for a moment to think.

"_I know that sound…it almost sounds like…WATER!"_ he thought excitedly.

(_Wolf's Rain OST: Rain of Blossoms_)

His hunger, thirst, and fatigue simultaneously forgotten, he dashed forward and subsequently tripped over an exposed root, skinning his knee but hardly caring as he jumped back up and continued running towards the sunlight.

Bursting out into the open, Alex slowly came to a stop, his mouth dropping open as an incredible vista opened up before him.

"_Nope…"_ he thought. _"I'm _definitely _not in San Francisco anymore."_

A large, running river cut through the land here, the water gently flowing through the center of the valley of which he was standing on the edge of, on top of a small dirt cliff jutting out from the side. Surrounding the river was a vast and amazing forest, with trees stretching out into the distance as far as he could see. A flock of birds had scattered and flown away, startled by the man's sudden appearance, and he could see them flying up and away over the valley. His attention quickly switched back to the river, which he was nearly desperate to take a drink out of, and he began looking around for a path down.

About half an hour later, he stumbled up to the river's bank, the water burbling invitingly, and Alex promptly got down on his hands and knees and dunked his head in all the way to his ears. Taking massive and much-needed gulps of the cool water, he pulled his head out and slicked his hair back, dripping wet but much cleaner now due to the sweat on his brow being cleaned off.

Composing himself a bit more, he dipped his hands in, scooping water out and drinking it, using whatever was left in his hands to wipe down his arms and face to cool off. Sated for the moment, he took a look around, and as luck would have it, his eyes settled on what looked like some kind of berry bush growing on the river bank. Walking over, he examined the bright red berries and picked one, rolling it around in his hand before popping it into his mouth and chewing.

His eyes widened from the taste, and he immediately set to picking more of the berries as fast as he could, shoving them into his mouth as he ate for the first time that day and washing it all down with cool water from the stream. When the bush had been picked clean, he let out a small burp and thumped his chest, satisfied with his impromptu meal.

"_That should hold me for a few hours. Trailblazer Man lives another day," _he thought with a chuckle, his mood having significantly improved. _"I still don't know where I'm going, but at least now I can follow this river. I'll have plenty of water, and whatever I can find growing on the bank for food. It might even lead me to a town of some sort, or at least a bridge crossing with a road that I can follow."_

His thoughts about following the river and finding civilization made him think about a time in his past, when his dad used to take him camping in Lake Tahoe near the border of Nevada. They'd get in the car for hours at a time, driving there while sharing laughs and long talks the whole way. When they arrived, they'd get out their packs and supplies and go hiking through the desolate wilderness to an area by the lake that they had picked out years before, that they were sure no one else knew about.

Once they had set up camp, Alex and his dad would go out and explore the wilderness, his trailblazer father teaching him all sorts of things about the forest and the things inside it. He had taught him how to build an emergency shelter out of the branches of pine trees, how to use pieces of flint to start a campfire, and even how to boil pine needles to make an impromptu tea that had more calcium than orange juice. At night, they would lie on their backs and look at the clear starry sky, pointing out constellations that they saw before they fell asleep to rest for their next great adventure.

Thinking back made Alex smile, in a somewhat grim sort of way when he remembered his more recent past.

"_Dammit, dad…"_ he thought, shaking his head. _"Why'd you have to get so drunk?"_

Done with his reminiscing, Alex started walking again along the edge of the river, his path somewhat clearer due to the lack of heavy brush around it.

* * *

><p>Several more hours later, his going somewhat improved by the addition of water and a few more berry bushes, Alex saw that the sky had turned a bright orange and the sun was nowhere to be seen. <em>"It must be dipping beneath the horizon, hidden by the trees…which means it'll be dark soon," <em>he thought. _"Better find myself some shelter…maybe a cave or something."_

Taking a look around, he headed away from the riverbank back into the forest, searching for some place that he could spend the night in. A large tree with some of its roots exposed to the air caught his eye, the dirt beneath it having eroded away and leaving a rather deep impression in the ground beneath it. Seeing nothing else, he crawled in and sat down among the roots, letting out a deep pent-up breath as the weight came off his aching legs. Sitting with his back propped up against the main root of the tree, he watched as the light around him slowly gave way to darkness, the shadows creeping up around him as the moon slowly began to come into view.

Somewhere far off in the distance, he could hear a wolf howling, the low mournful sound giving him chills. Shaking it off, he lay down beneath the tree, looking up into the tangled mass of smaller roots that hung just above his face.

"_I miss my bed,"_ he thought simply, the image of it going up in flames still fresh in his mind, before he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep despite everything that had happened to him during the past few hours.

Suddenly, his rest was interrupted by the loud crunching of footsteps, from _something _that he realized was heading his way as the noise slowly began to grow louder.

Unsure of what it was, Alex quickly stood up in a crouch and threw on his black sweater, in hopes that its dark color would camouflage him in the fading light. The sound grew closer, now joined by a second sound of a similar sort, and Alex could only hide and watch, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest.

Two hunched-over figures wandered into the small clearing around the tree he was hiding under, their breathing somewhat raspy and their faces hidden, by _what _exactly, Alex couldn't tell. They both wore what looked to be large, baggy clothing that was far too large for them, as the sleeves of their shirts hung down past their arms and covered their hands. In fact, the only thing Alex could tell for sure in the dark was that they were both humanoid in appearance, standing on two legs.

They stopped by the riverbank, one of them plopping down and idly swirling its hand through the water while the other bent over, hands on its knees as it fought to catch its breath.

"I don't know _how_ you can keep going like this!" the standing one exclaimed suddenly, its voice as raspy as its breathing. "I'm dead tired, and you're not even winded!"

"I'll bet you I can catch that fish with my bare hands!" the other said, clearly not listening.

The first figure looked at the second one for a moment, before walking over and smacking it on the back of the head, drawing an irritated "OW!"

"Shut up! You _do _remember why we're out here, don't you?"

"Yeah…" the second figure sighed, rubbing the back of its head. "We're out here to get this area ready."

"That's right!" the first one exclaimed. "So stop messing around and help me get a camp set up! We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow!"

"_Well…"_ Alex thought, unsure of what he was seeing. _"They SOUND human…and they LOOK somewhat human too…so they must be human!"_ he concluded. _"And if they're out here, then there must be a town nearby! I'll ask them for directions."_

Watching the two figures as one began to gather wood while the other produced some flint and set to striking two pieces together, cursing loudly when the fire refused to start, Alex climbed out of his hiding place and walked forward, clearing his throat.

"Uh…excuse me," he began. "Sorry to interrupt you two, but I'm kinda lost here. Think you guys can point me towards the nearest town?"

The figure striking the flint casually looked towards him, and suddenly stopped mid-strike when its eyes fell upon the man, who still couldn't see the figure's face. Dumbfounded, the figure slowly finished its strike, and as luck would have it, that particular spark just happened to set the wood on fire, lighting up the clearing and allowing Alex to see the two people better.

Alex literally felt his friendly smile drop right off his face when he saw the two figures, illuminated in an eerie light by the fire. Their large baggy clothes were green-colored, long sleeve shirts made of some kind of silk from the looks of it, and were cut off at the waist with baggy black pants that were made of the same material. What really got the man's attention however, were their faces: nonexistent, simply covered up by what looked like old-timey _scrolls_…with kanji symbols written on them.

"_Keee keee KEEE!"_ they shrieked, both figures jumping up and striking battle stances, their sleeves having fallen back enough to reveal their hands which both had a wicked looking set of claw-like blades attached to their fingers.

(_Wolf's Rain OST: Face On_)

"_Oh crap…" _Alex muttered, his turn to be dumbfounded.

"A human? How delightful!" one of them exclaimed, the glee apparent in its voice. "I haven't eaten in ages!"

"Neither have I!" the other said. "I call the first serving on his stringy arms! That's where they're juiciest!"

"_Double crap!"_

"Come here, you!" the one on the right shouted, leaping into the air and slashing down with its claw blades, looking to cleave the human in half.

Alex didn't know whether it was sheer reflexes or dumb luck that saved him right then, but somehow, he managed to fall backwards just far enough that the blades buried themselves in the dirt between his legs, just barely missing his manhood.

Never one to wait around, Alex immediately jumped up and ran like hell from the two creatures, disappearing into the dark forest as he crashed loudly through the thick brush.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" he heard one of them shout, their loud _keee keee keee's_ reaching his ears as they gave chase. Sneaking a quick glance over his shoulder, Alex could see them leaping and rebounding against the tree trunks like the ninjas from the movies, easily passing over the ground that Alex was forced to struggle and push through. In the dim moonlight, he could barely see where he was going, but apparently the darkness was no problem to the ferocious creatures, their sight locked on him no matter where he went and their feet never missing a step.

Alex could feel himself tiring from his extended sprint, but he continued to run, staying just ahead of the creatures. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep running forever, and the fact was only made more apparent when he tripped over another exposed root in the ground. Having been running full-pelt this time, Alex felt himself lift off the ground and slam face-first into the dirt, stunning him and causing him to lay there for a few seconds.

Slowly, he got up to his hands and knees, shaking the stars from his head, and looked up straight into the scroll-face of the first creature, its arms crossed with the second one hopping about excitedly behind it.

"Aww…did the poor widdle human get a boo-boo?" it said, uncrossing its arms and unsheathing its claw blades, the metal glinting in the moonlight. "Don't worry. Just hold still and I'll make this _somewhat_ painless."

Alex shut his eyes tight, waiting for the strike to land.

But it never came. What _did _come was a deafeningly loud roar.

Alex opened his eyes just in time to see a dark mass fly out of the nearby trees and slam into the creature standing over him, which let out a surprised _"Keeeeee!"_ as it was knocked off its feet.

Rolling onto his back, Alex could only see the silhouette of an absolutely _huge_ wolf, illuminated perfectly by the rising full moon behind it. The creature it had slammed into was struggling wildly, its neck caught in the grip of the wolf's deadly jaws.

Alex stared with awe at the magnificent animal, its golden eyes meeting his for a brief second…before it bit down, silencing the creature's struggles with a loud _crunch_ as its spine snapped under the force of the wolf's jaws.

The other creature, infuriated by the interference of the wolf and completely forgetting about the human, let out a loud battle shriek and leapt high into the air towards the animal. The wolf, still holding the body of the first creature, leapt into the air as well, spinning around and using the momentum to throw the corpse at its attacker. Both creatures collided in midair, the one still alive unlucky enough to be caught under the body of its comrade as they slammed into the ground.

Dazed, but hardly down for the count, the living creature pushed the body off of himself and got back to his feet…just in time to take a vicious head-butt from the wolf, the impact knocking the creature backwards with enough force to slam against the tree trunk behind it.

"_Screw this!"_ Alex heard his brain scream, and he couldn't agree more. Jumping back to his feet, he started running again, this time away from the battle as the sounds of the second creature shrieking in pain followed him, the wolf undoubtedly tearing into it.

"Come on, come on, _move!_" he repeated to himself over and over, his fatigue catching back up to him and causing him to slow down. Still, he continued to run further and further away, trying to keep his legs moving even as they began to lose power, slowing him down even more.

The fact that he had slowed down so much was probably a minor blessing in disguise…because, as he realized when he suddenly lost his balance, if had been running at full speed, he probably would have charged straight into the massive ravine that had suddenly opened up before him, unseen in the terrible tree-blocked moonlight until it was too late.

And it was truly massive, a huge tear in the earth as wide as a city bus was long, and deeper than he could see in the brief glimpse he was afforded as he teetered right on the edge.

Pinwheeling his arms much like Tommy had done when the man had almost lost his own balance, Alex nearly managed to save himself…before the fragile earth he was standing on gave way beneath his feet, Alex letting out a yell as he landed right on his lower back and slid over the edge.

Hitting the side of the ravine as he fell, Alex's limp ragdoll body spun around wildly, his vision following suit as he desperately tried to right himself. Before he could, however, his body slammed into an incline along the inside of the ravine, knocking the breath out of him and stopping his fall, but causing him to roll in the dirt as his momentum continued to carry him down the slope.

Somewhere along the way, his head cracked into an exposed rock, and stars exploded in his vision. Vaguely feeling himself roll off the incline and begin falling again into empty space, Alex's bruised and bleeding body fell for a few more seconds before slamming face-down into the solid ground below.

Trying to lift his head, Alex let out a pained groan before blacking out again.

* * *

><p><strong>Ugh, I hate having to try and convey a sense of pain in my writing, but such is the way of the fanfiction writer.<strong>

**Anyway's you know the drill by now...rate and review if you want, and I'll see you next time!**


	4. Divergence

**Hey, people. I guess since we're getting pretty far into the story, I should explain a bit about the setting of it relative to the time that this story actually occurs. Now, I'm sure that I'm not the only person who thought that NINE MONTHS of peace was a little bit too short a period of time, considering all of the crap that Ammy had to do. So for the purposes of this story, I'm just going to assume that the events of Okamiden don't take place until about five years after the events of the original Okami. That way, certain characters like Kuni actually have time to grow up instead of mysteriously becoming 5 to 6 years old in the span of nine months.**

**As for the story itself, it takes place around 1 to 2 years after the events of the original Okami.**

**Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Divergence<strong>

_Earlier that day…_

The Celestial Plain…a place of unearthly beauty, so amazing that a mortal would fall to his knees and weep at the mere sight of it all.

But such was not always the way things had been, for only one year ago had the kingdom of the celestials been shrouded in the Curse of Darkness, its wondrous halls, fields, and forests overrun by the demonic minions of the dark lords Yami and Orochi. It was the same corruption infecting the Celestial Plain that had eventually found its way down to the mortal plain, carried there by the fabled Ark of Yamato that was doomed to crash into its surface. The demons that had either stowed away on the Ark, or were imprisoned, were free to spill out of the legendary craft's hull and into the world of mortals, to wreak havoc and death wherever they went.

But one citizen of the Celestial Plain refused to allow this travesty to continue…one citizen decided to take a stand against the forces of darkness, knowing full well the tremendous power of her enemy.

That being was Okami Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, and Mother to all that was pure and good in the world. Gathering warriors and friends from among the mortals, she waged a battle of purity and righteousness against those who would desecrate the mortal world of Nippon, the battle spreading across the land from north to south. Wherever she would go, Amaterasu, in the form of a wild white wolf, would purge the land of evil and corruption, driving and beating it back until she at last stood at the door to the fabled Ark, where it had all begun.

Going inside, never to return to the realm of mortals, Amaterasu met her most dangerous opponents in battle on the Ark, their spirits chained to the craft and trapped there by their leader, the source of all evil himself: Yami.

Amaterasu fought valiantly in a terrible battle against the Emperor of Darkness, her pure radiance proving an equal match for Yami's corrupting darkness. But eventually, the Goddess triumphed over her rival, smiting him down with the combined power of the other celestial brush gods.

But even in her moment of ultimate triumph, Yami would not remain defeated. His evil knowing no bounds, he lashed out and struck her with a mortal blow while her back was turned, draining all of her strength and leaving her a mere, powerless shell of herself. But all was not lost…not yet.

Amaterasu's friends, the ones she had met and helped on the mortal plain, came to her aid at that moment, some lending her their own strength through their prayers of faith and belief, while others convinced as many people as they could to do the same. With the vast majority of Nippon praying for her strength and well-being, Amaterasu quickly found herself fully reinvigorated, her power both restored and increased beyond anything she had known before.

Armed with divine power and the faith of mortals, Amaterasu launched a flurry of attacks so powerful that Yami could not possibly hope to defend against them. With the light of Amaterasu's sun burning away at him, the Emperor of Darkness' form collapsed upon itself and simply ceased to exist.

With the evil purified, Amaterasu and her most loyal friend took the Ark of Yamato back to the Celestial Plain, bringing with them a legendary Guardian Sapling in hopes that its cleansing power, already at work within the land of Nippon, would be enough to save what was left of the Plain and its inhabitants.

(_Jade Empire Soundtrack – Sanctuary_)

Today, it was that very same sapling that Amaterasu and her companion reclined under, having rapidly grown into a full-blown cherry tree. Around them, the air itself sparkled in its purity, blowing in soft gusts of wind that swept around the field of jade colored grass that the tree was located in, near the very center of the plain itself.

Having long ago reverted back to her human form, Amaterasu now wore a spotless white kimono with intricate red lines dancing up and down the length of it, matching perfectly with the similar markings on her face and around her eyes. Her hair was also stark white, although she did not appear old or frail in the least; quite the opposite. She radiated an air of strength and youthful vigor, no doubt from her bond with the eternal sun that rose each morning under her divine guidance. Her eyes were currently closed, a faint smile creasing her lips as she basked in the warm light of the sun, mixed with the soft caress of the breeze.

Her companion, a member of the fabled moon tribe, as made obvious by his blonde hair and pale skin, wore a bright pink silk shirt with violet colored pants and wooden sandals. Next to him lay an odd looking hat, with flaps hanging off of it that were as long as his hair itself. In his hands was his trusty wooden flute, on which he played a simply, lilting tune. The flute's appearance was deceiving, however, as the man could call on its hidden power with a word and transform it into a deadly sword made of pure energy…a weapon that he had called on many times during his adventure in Nippon. For now though, he was content to play his music for the Goddess that sat next to him.

When the simple, yet beautiful song came to an end, Amaterasu slowly opened her eyes as her smile grew wider.

"That was wonderful, Waka," she began, turning to the man. "Your skills with the flute never cease to amaze me."

Waka inclined his head at her words, a smile on his own face as well. _"Merci, ma Cherie," _he said, the exotic accent clear in his voice. "I have been practicing since the day we arrived, seeing as how I currently have no use for Pillow Talk's other ability."

"You mean where it goes from peaceful instrument to deadly weapon, capable of cutting through nearly anything, like demons and even _me_ on several occasions?" she said with a playful smirk on her face.

Waka groaned in mock agony, holding a hand to his heart. "Ach…you wound me, _ma Cherie_! When will you accept my explanation that I was merely testing your abilities?"

"When you apologize for nearly putting a dent in my Reflector," she stated simply, turning away and giving him the cold shoulder.

They remained like that for several moments, Waka staring at her inquisitively while Amaterasu looked the other way in a pretend huff.

Slowly though, she began to sneak a peek over her shoulder at the man, who returned her stare and began to chuckle. Unable to resist, Amaterasu's face broke out into a grin as she began to laugh as well, the volume intensifying until their silly peals of laughter echoed across the grassy field.

"Oh Waka…" she said after catching her breath, giving the man a friendly push. "You always give me a reason to make the sun rise in the morning."

"It is what I do best, _ma Cherie,_" he stated with a chuckle. "I _am_ God's gift to man, after all."

"You are also a snob."

"_Ach!"_ he groaned, in another bout of mock agony. "When will the barbs stop! ?"

Amaterasu was about to open her mouth for a witty reply when it happened.

A sudden wave of energy across time and space, echoing through her consciousness like the ring of a bell, carrying with it the foreboding wind of events unknown…and the image of a unconscious human, lying on his back in a field of white flowers.

But as soon as it had come, it disappeared, leaving only the image that had burned itself into her memory.

"…Ammy?" Waka said after a moment, calling her by her nickname. "What's the matter?"

"I…I do not know…" she stuttered out, which concerned Waka greatly, considering that the Sun Goddess had almost always known what to do or where to go during her time on Nippon. "I felt something…a disturbance of some sort."

"A disturbance?" Waka inquired, shifting to face her fully. "Does this happen often for Celestials?"

"No…" she stated, a grim look appearing on her face. "…not unless something critically important to the safety and well-being of the world is at stake."

Waka was about to ask her what was so important, when a sudden gust of wind interrupted him. Looking up, the two of them watched as the wind began to gather up the loose cherry tree petals and swirl them together in the air, the petals dancing around faster and faster inside the miniature nimbus, until they suddenly came together and burst outward, scattering everywhere.

In their place, a young woman garbed in a bright kimono the same color as the cherry tree blossoms remained, her long black hair flowing in the wind behind her as she hovered in midair above the stunned pair.

Composing herself, she bowed respectfully, saying, "Mother Amaterasu…it is good to see you again."

"Sakuya!" Ammy gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Bringing you an important message, on behalf of the other Brush Gods," the tree spirit replied, rising back up. "An emergency council has been called, and they request your presence in the main hall immediately. As for my presence here, they also requested that I tell you, as my ability to travel between my Guardian Saplings allowed me to reach you the fastest."

"Well, that was certainly fast," Waka muttered. "Perhaps they have felt this 'disturbance' as well?"

"It is a possibility," Ammy replied, nodding. "In any case, we should go to the hall immediately. The others are known for many things, but patience is not always one of them."

"Agreed," Waka stated, standing up and putting his flute away. "Thank you for the message, Mistress Sakuya."

"It was my pleasure, Honorable Waka," the tree spirit said, bowing again and batting her eyes at the handsome man (in a rather obvious way) before vanishing in a cloud of petals.

Looking over at Ammy, who was staring at him with a sort of accusing look on her face, he felt himself blush and rubbed the back of his head. "Eh…heh heh…" he chuckled. "…Shall we be going, then?"

Shaking her head, Ammy strode off without saying a single word.

* * *

><p>The main hall of the Celestial Plain, an enormous white palace that gleamed brightly in the morning sun, was where many of the remaining inhabitants of the plain spent their time, including the thirteen Brush Gods as they made decisions regarding the workings of the mortal plain. Laid out in front of it was a huge three-tiered staircase leading up into the main antechamber, with a pair of Celestials standing guard, their ornate armor no less fabulous than the palace that they protecting. Upon seeing Amaterasu and Waka heading up the stairs towards them, they both bowed respectfully and reached over to open the massive stone doors that consisted of the entrance.<p>

Going inside, Waka stared up at the massive ceiling inside the antechamber, of which he had only been inside a handful of times before. Although he was used to the appearance of grandeur, having been inside many interesting buildings and structures during his time on the mortal plain, the Celestial Palace was a different sight entirely, outdoing that of even the great Dragon Place beneath the sea. Inside the chamber, celestials of all kinds made their way to and fro, their glittering wings filling the room with a gentle flapping sound as they went about their business.

Realizing that Amaterasu had moved on without waiting for him, he quickly regained his senses and ran to catch up with her, the two of them moving up to the podium where a rather busy looking celestial sat, scanning over a document in front of him with a monocle set over his eye. Upon hearing their approach, he looked up, his face immediately brightening as he saw the Goddess.

"Ah, Amaterasu…" he spoke in a formal manner. "You are just in time. The meeting is about to begin. Please, proceed to the inner chamber and straight to your balcony, as I am sure the others are ready to start."

"Thank you, Sachio," Ammy replied. "Will Waka be able to sit and watch this time?"

"So long as he behaves himself."

Nodding, the two made their way through the large archway into the secondary antechamber, where a series of staircases ran through, leading up and around to various different rooms lining the outer walls. What Amaterasu was interested in, however, was the series of red-curtained entrances that ran around the circumference of the massive stone pillar in the center, so large that it could have fit the entire area of Sei-an Palace's central building inside. In front of each curtained archway stood other celestial guards, stiff and resolute at their post.

Walking up the crisscrossing pathways of stairs, Amaterasu and Waka slowly ascended the outside of the pillar, making their way up to the circular walkway where the entrances to the inner chamber were. Walking past the archways, Waka could clearly see small signs posted by them, each bearing the name of one of the celestial brush gods.

When they arrived at Amaterasu's door, the guard standing there gave them the once-over before also bowing respectfully and standing aside to allow them access. With a nod to the man, Amaterasu went in, followed closely by Waka.

Inside the massive center of the hollow pillar, it was rather plain and drab looking, a dull grey stone color compared to the gleaming white of the rest of the palace. Along the inside wall, there were a series of thirteen balconies with railings, one for each of the curtained entrances outside. Standing on each one was a human of varying appearance, ranging from an old bearded man with a knobby walking stick, to a heavily armored samurai carrying a giant glaive upon his back, to a little girl with snow white hair, similar to Amaterasu's, but much shorter.

Waka nodded to Ammy, signifying his readiness, and leaned back against the wall as Amaterasu walked forward, up to the railing of her balcony. Taking note of her arrival, the old man peered at her through wrinkly eyes from across the chamber.

"Ah, Mother Amaterasu…" he began in a typical, raspy, old-man voice. "Thank you for joining us on such short notice. I know this was rather sudden, but the issue simply couldn't wait."

Upon hearing her name, the other humans in the room turned to face her, offering their various greetings, with the little girl simply waving happily from her balcony directly to the right of Amaterasu's.

"I believe this makes all of us, correct Yomegami?" the samurai man asked.

"Quite so, Tachigami," the old man replied. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a much deeper voice, "I hereby declare this council officially convened."

At his words, the walls, balconies, and floor suddenly disappeared, giving way to the parchment-and-ink appearance of the Godly Realm, of which Amaterasu had seen many times before whenever the Brush Gods had lent their power to her during her adventure on the mortal realm. The gods around her then began to shift into their true forms, an act of formality mostly, but also to ensure that none of them happened to be an interloper.

The little girl to Amaterasu's right had been replaced by a large rabbit, carrying a giant wooden mallet in one paw and hopping up to the railing so as to be seen better by the other gods. The heavily armored samurai took on the form of a small rat, but his sword remained the same size as he stuck it into the "ground" and balanced on top of it. The other gods shifted their forms, taking on the appearances of a trio of monkeys, a majestic phoenix, a massive boar standing upon a giant cherry bomb, and so on. Amaterasu herself had returned to her original form of a large white wolf, shaking herself off as the changes took effect and sitting down on her hind legs.

Once the other gods had finished, the old man called Yomegami then transformed himself, becoming a massive white dragon whose mighty form took up nearly an entire side of their circle, the other gods scooting away from him to give him room.

Slowly looking from side to side, his eyes meeting those of every Brush God in attendance, Yomegami settled himself down and began to speak.

"I believe you all understand why we are here, in this emergency council," he began. "Regarding this…'disturbance'."

"_Disturbance_ is putting it lightly," the rabbit, who went by the name of Yumigami, stated. "While I was pounding mochi with my attendant, the ripple made my aim fly so far off that I ended up crushing the poor man's hand!"

"You think _that_ was bad…" the phoenix, named Moegami, spoke up, "I was busy lighting the street lanterns in preparation for tonight, and I accidentally set fire to someone's house when the ripple hit!"

Other gods began to chip in, retelling various incidents of accidental flooding or electrocution from lightning bolts.

"Yes, yes…" Yomegami spoke up, silencing them all. "We all felt the ripple, across the fabric of time and space that we know. The question is…_why?_"

"Perhaps something is threatening the mortal realm's safety again?" Amaterasu chipped in with a bark.

"Pah!" the white tiger across the chamber from her scoffed, lifting his head from his paws with a bored look on his face. "If you ask me, the mortals probably just feel like they're in desperate need of deliverance from something or another, blowing it out of proportion like usual…ungrateful meatbags, always begging or praying for something they don't need help with."

"And what gives you the right to make such an assumption, Gekigami?" Amaterasu growled. "You realize that, without the belief of mortals, we would cease to exist?"

"Perhaps…" came the reply. "But that belief seems to have become strained in the recent days. You have all felt it, have you not?" he asserted, rising to his feet to make his voice heard throughout the chamber. "Have you all felt your power diminishing in recent days, as I have felt mine?"

Casting his sight around the chamber, the other brush gods noticeably avoided his gaze except Amaterasu, who continued to stare him straight in the eye.

"Hmph…" he snorted. "I thought so. It seems the mortals have grown quick to forget the miracles that we gods bestow upon them, especially in recent years."

"Enough!" Yomegami rumbled. "This argument brings us nowhere! Trivial matter or not, we must still decide a course of action for this disturbance!"

A rabble of bickering voices started up, each god suggesting a different strategy to deal with the matter.

"Direct intervention! Direct intervention!" the Hanagami Trio of monkeys chanted. "Sent someone down!"

"No! We cannot allow that unless this becomes a matter of the direst consequences!" Yumigami stated.

"I say we just sit back and let this blow over," Gekigami muttered, lying back down and ignoring the outraged responses from his fellow Brush Gods.

Yomegami simply let out a long, heaving sigh, clearly aggravated.

Amaterasu chose not to get involved, instead copying Gekigami by lying down and resting her head on her paws. Her thoughts wandered back to the image of the man that was still fresh in her mind, still puzzled over why she had seen it…and why none of the other gods had mentioned it. Could it have been someone important to her? Someone she had known in a previous incarnation, like Waka had known Shiranui?

But it couldn't be…she had felt no connection to the man whatsoever, and his clothes were a style unlike anything she had seen in Nippon before. So why her, then?

"Amaterasu?" Yomegami asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. "You seem to have something on your mind."

Amaterasu lifted her head up, and realized that every Brush God in the chamber was staring at her. Rising to her haunches, she asked "Is it really that obvious?"

"Of course," Yumigami replied matter-of-factly. "Whenever you're deep in thought, your left ear twitches in a funny kind of way."

"Oh…" the wolf said, feeling embarrassed. "Well, to be honest, there has been something about the disturbance that has bothered me…something that not even I can understand."

"Then by all means…share with us," Yomegami said, though not impolitely.

Taking a deep breath, Amaterasu began. "Like the rest of you, I felt the ripple across the fabric of time and space. But for me, the ripple brought with it an image…the image of a man."

"A man? Who is he?"

"I…I don't know. That is what's bothering me. I could swear that I have never seen him before in any of my lives, yet I am certain that he only appeared to me. Am I correct?"

There was a collective nod throughout the room from each of the Brush Gods.

"There is also something else…" she continued. "His clothes…they were unlike anything I had seen before. Their style doesn't match any other known style in Nippon."

"Interesting…" Yomegami mused. "A foreigner perhaps?"

"Maybe…" Amaterasu replied. "But that still doesn't answer why he appeared only to me."

"Maybe he holds a possession of yours?" one of the Hanagami monkeys piped up. "Some long lost trinket that somehow found its way to him?"

But Ammy was already shaking her head. "If he were carrying something of mine, I would have sensed it…just like any of us with our own possessions."

"Perhaps it is simply dormant then?"

"That is speculative at best," Yomegami rumbled. "But still, this situation intrigues me…a potentially foreign man who, for some odd reason, bears some kind of connection with a Goddess who has had no previous contact with him whatsoever. This sheds a new light on the situation…no pun intended, Mother Amaterasu."

"Then what do you suggest we do, Yome?" she asked, using his informal name.

The great dragon bowed his head, deep in thought for a moment, before looking back up at Amaterasu.

"Would you, perhaps, be willing to return to Nippon…?" he suggested. "To walk among the mortals once more?"

Taken aback by Yomegami's frank suggestion, Amaterasu and the other Brush Gods remained speechless, while Waka, still in the back, stood up suddenly in surprise.

"You mean…go back? Do you mean that?" she asked in a whisper.

"But of course," the dragon replied. "You could go down to the mortal realm to find this man and to discover what it is about him that caused such a disturbance. And, as Gekigami so kindly brought up…" he continued, looking over at the tiger, who snorted loudly but otherwise didn't move, "…the faith of mortals _has_ been rather weak lately. Perhaps you could use this opportunity to re-inspire their faith in the gods with a few divine interventions?"

Amaterasu could hardly believe it. A chance to revisit the world of Nippon, to see all of her friends again. But she couldn't appear desperate about it…even though she could barely contain her excitement, she still had to keep up appearances with the others.

Composing herself, she cleared her throat and said, "If you believe it to be the best course of action, then I will trust your judgment."

"Then it is settled!" Yomegami declared. "Amaterasu, you and your friend are to depart at once. Take the Ark of Yamato down to the surface. I shall make sure that it is ready for you when you arrive. Are there any objections?" he asked, directing the last question at the others.

Seeing none, he nodded. "Then I shall take my leave. Council is adjourned!"

* * *

><p>Walking out of the chamber, Amaterasu, still in her wolf form, bounded around excitedly, wringing a smile out of Waka as he followed her out. In her elation, she accidentally smacked into him, knocking him off balance and nearly sending him over the edge of the walkway.<p>

"Whoa! Calm yourself, ma Cherie!" he said, chuckling with every word. "We haven't reached Nippon quite yet!"

Ammy stopped, panting and wagging her tail vigorously, before she quickly reverted back to her human form and stood up, smoothing out her kimono. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just so happy! We can finally see all of our friends again! Susano and Kushi and Mr. Orange…!"

"Don't forget your diminutive poncle friend!" he added in.

"Issun!" she exclaimed. "Yes, _especially_ Issun! We have to go see him first!"

"In due time, ma Cherie. First we must actually get underway!"

"Yes, yes, of course," she replied, calming down a bit. "To the Ark, then?"

"Do you have everything that you need?" he inquired, sounding like a concerned mother.

Holding her hand out, she summoned one of her astral pouches into existence and held it open for him to see. Inside was a pair of holy bones, a large variety of delectable fruits, and a few small exorcism slips.

"Just in case," she said, noticing when his gaze lingered on the latter items. "I still haven't forgotten how to fight." To prove her point, she summoned her old divine reflector to bear, the flaming metal disc rotating slowly in place over her right forearm.

"But of course," Waka replied. Holding out his hand, he asked, "Shall we?"

A quick flash of light was his answer, Ammy transforming back into a wolf. _"Race you there!"_ she mentally telegraphed to him, taking off down the stairs and leaving a path of fully bloomed flowers in her wake.

Laughing with surprise, Waka bounded down the stairs after her, the Tao Master easily matching her pace.

* * *

><p>By the time they reached the docks where the Ark was currently stationed, night was already falling, the moon rising into the sky as Yumigami began to work her magic. Boarding the craft, Ammy and Waka proceeded down to the inner depths of the ship, making their way to the control room where they could activate the craft and be on their way.<p>

"Where shall we land once we arrive, ma Cherie?" Waka asked as they passed through the narrow corridors that preceded the massive chambers deep within the Ark.

"The mountains of Kamui," she replied. "No one will find the Ark there, and we will be close enough to retrieve Issun."

"I suspect you will want some time to catch up with your friends, then," he said. "In the meantime, I will contact my Tao Trooper network and see if we can gather any information on our friend."

"You mean…split up?" she asked, stopping suddenly.

"Of course…I work much faster alone, and I also imagine that you've had quite enough of me, seeing as how you have spent the better part of the year with no one but me."

Standing there, a faint smile crossed her lips as she looked at him and said "No one could ever get tired of you, Waka."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Waka stated, thinking back to the long list of insults Issun had thought up about him.

Reaching the control room, Waka went over to the controls and began punching in coordinates as he expertly operated the machine. Hitting the ignition button, he felt the craft rumble to life and begin moving, picking up speed as it began to float away from the dock and the Celestial Plain altogether. Bringing up the port-side imager, Waka and Amaterasu could see a small crowd of Celestials gathered along the edge of the dock, waving goodbye and shouting well-wishes their way.

"Do you think you'll miss your home here, Ammy?" Waka asked.

"Of course," she replied. "But it will be good for my spirit to get out and see the world again, as well as my friends. Besides…we won't be gone for too long, hopefully."

"One can only hope," he agreed.

Slowly, the Ark of Yamato descended lower and lower, into the mortal realm under the cover of darkness. That was something Amaterasu was thankful for; to the humans, the Ark would appear as nothing more than a shooting star.

As they drifted further north, the air inside the craft became noticeably colder as the outside elements forced their way in through the seams. Waka, seeing Ammy shiver slightly and pull her kimono closer around herself, activated the climate controls for inside the craft and made it warmer.

Soon enough, they reached the upper mountains of northern Kamui, and after finding a suitably large clearing in the deeper parts of the mountain range, Waka touched the craft down gently, the landing gear crunching loudly through the ice and snow.

Heading over to the main hatch on the side of the ship, Waka and Amaterasu paused for a moment as they went through their things and made sure everything was in place.

"Ready to face the world, ma Cherie?" Waka asked in all seriousness.

"Ready as I'll ever be," came the reply.

Nodding, Waka threw a lever and the hatch let out a soft hiss it slowly slid open, letting in snow and freezing cold wind. Ammy took the moment to shift to her wolf form, her white fur offering better protection than the light kimono, already having come to the realization that she would likely be in that form for a while.

Outside, a howling snowstorm raged in the form of a full-on blizzard. The pair was undeterred however, having faced much more imposing circumstances before.

"This is where I get off then…" Waka said, placing his hat on his head and tucking his long hair into the flaps attached to it. "I'll come find you if I find anything of interest pertaining to our mystery man. See you around, ma Cherie. Good luck!"

With that, he leapt off the hatch door and disappeared into the snowstorm, quickly vanishing from sight.

Suddenly feeling a brief twinge of loneliness, Amaterasu shook it off and readied her reflector, its divine flames creating an aura around her that protected her from the chill of the storm. With supplies in hand, she leapt off and vanished into the storm herself, the hatch to the Ark closing slowly behind her.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I don't know why I made Gekigami such a jerk...maybe it's because he was the most upfront with his attack on Ammy when she first summoned him :**

**Anyways, rate and review if ya want, and I'll see you guys next time!**


	5. Legacy

**BLEH. I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK.**

**Yeah, sorry about taking so long to get this chapter in to you guys. I got a big case of writer's block halfway through and it was all I could do to grind this out with any amount of decency. Also, not much in terms of action in this chapter, just lots of plot development (IMPORTANT plot development O.o'), and a bit of other stuff. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: Legacy<strong>

His eyes snapped open, the sight of dirt mixed with jagged pieces of rock greeting him.

A deep breath, a hacking cough, and he slowly brought his arms around. Planting his hands on the ground beside him, he began the long arduous task of pushing his battered and bruised body up, his whole body spiking with pain as he tried his best not to aggravate his injuries. His entire body ached all over, but having seen plenty of military movies before, he vaguely remembered that pain was a good thing, because it meant that you were still alive.

Managing to roll over onto his back and prop himself up against the sloping side of the bottom of the ravine, he looked up into the sky and noted that it was still night time, the stars twinkling faintly through the opening far above.

Trying to sit up, he gasped and clutched at his chest as another spike of pain went through him. _"Dammit…"_ he thought. _"I'm seriously messed up here."_ Biting his lip, he forced himself up into a sitting position, using a slab of rock jutting out of the ravine wall to pull on. Sitting there, each breath causing his chest to ache, he squeezed his eyes shut as he fought to come to terms with his situation.

"Well THIS has been a huge barrel of fun…" he muttered to himself. "Trekking through the forest for hours, getting jumped by whatever the hell those things were, and that freaking wolf scaring the hell out of me…why is all this happening to me?"

"_Does it really matter now?"_ his brain said._ "You're here, and this is all really happening. That pain in your body proves it."_

"What am I supposed to do, though?" he replied. "If this keeps up, I'm going to end up dead by tomorrow! I'm no better off than I was with that fire!"

"_Now is that any way to talk? Moaning about it isn't going to help anything. You're not a kid anymore!"_

"But…"

"_NO BUTS!" _his brain suddenly screamed. _"You don't even know if that wolf was friendly or not! Now I don't know about you, but I'd rather not stick around in one place and wait until it finds us and does whatever it did to those other things! Suck it up and get your ass in gear!"_

Opening his eyes, he grunted as he struggled to stand, using the wall behind him as support. The dirt crumbled away under his pull, causing him to fall down again, but he remained undeterred.

"_Come on! Move it!"_

"I'm trying! I'm…trying!" he grunted, getting onto one knee and pushing himself up with his legs. Shaking violently, they barely managed to support his weight as he slowly stood up, his back cracking loudly as he straightened out. Immediately bending over and clutching his right side with his left arm, he took several deep breaths as he fought to stay conscious.

"_Okay…I'm up and moving again," _he thought, with a small amount of hope restored. _"Now to find a way out of this ravine and back to the surface."_

Looking down the length of the pit, he could see it stretching off into the distance a good ways before angling off to the side and disappearing around a corner. If anything, he had a good hike ahead of him and most likely some climbing to do as well. Standing up after his fall was a start, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was only going to get harder after this.

Looking up again, as if the stars held the answers to the numerous questions buzzing around in his head, he could barely make out tiny light streaking across the night sky.

"_Hey…a shooting star…"_ he realized. _"Let's see…I wish…I wish I could find a way out of this mess."_

He waited, but of course, nothing happened.

"Tch…" he scoffed. "Figures." He started walking down the length of the ravine, clutching his side more tightly to lessen the pain lancing up his abdomen.

And he walked. And he continued walking, for what seemed like hours on end. And still no end to the ravine in sight, not even an area that he could climb up in his current condition. _"Must've been one hell of an earthquake that caused this,"_ he thought as he walked. _"This thing is big enough to almost be a friggin' canyon!"_

Stopping for a quick break, he leaned back against the dirt wall as he caught his breath. Now that his blood and adrenaline were flowing again from his exertion, his injuries didn't hurt so much anymore and he had gotten used to the steady throbbing that had replaced the aching pain. Still, he had missed out on a pretty big amount of sleep, and being unconscious from that fall apparently didn't count, because his fatigue was already catching back up to him. He knew that he had to find another place to rest soon, or his injuries would be the least of his problems.

Looking around, his eyes happened to pass over a darkened spot in the side of the ravine across from him, overshadowed by roots and rocks to the point where he would have missed it had he not looked directly at it from where he was resting. Standing up straight, he walked up to it and peered inside as well as he could through the debris, reaching forward to push the stuff out of the way as he expected to find a half-sheltered depression in the side of the wall that he could possibly curl up in.

What he revealed instead could hardly be called a depression. It was more like a large crack in the side of the ravine wall, just wide enough for a grown man like him to pass through sideways. Somewhat interested at what possibly lay on the other side, he pushed right up to it and poked his head in.

Even in the dark shroud of the moonlight, Alex could definitely make out a faint blue light glowing within a small cave, so faint in fact that there would have been no way to see it had it been light outside.

"_That's definitely a cave in there," _he thought. _"But what's with the light?"_ Hearing a noise outside, he quickly pulled his head out and looked up at the top of the ravine, suddenly fearful of what potentially lay in wait above.

"_Crap…I really shouldn't be doing this…but if that wolf is following me, I'll be safer in here. I'll just stay in this cave and rest until it's light out when I can see better."_

Taking one last look behind him, he turned sideways and began shuffling down into the crack, his chest and back scraping against the dirt walls. Forcing his way in deeper when the opening began to narrow, he squeezed through to the inner cave and came out in a spray of dirt and dust, making him cough as he brushed his sweater off. Once he had waved away the dust, he finally got a good look at what was inside the cave.

At first sight, it was nothing really spectacular about it. It was a simply hollow beneath the earth, with the walls crafted out of smoothed-out stone from years of erosion, likely from underground water flows. The source of light, however, was a different story: Alex could see what looked to be a large stone tablet set into a flat section of the wall, the glow seemingly coming from the stone itself. Its edges were shaped to give its surface boarders, as though something was meant to be written on it, but from what he could see, there wasn't a single word or symbol carved into it.

Normally, such a find would surprise him, but considering everything that had happened to him thus far, with the orb and the transportation, to the violent creatures and the mysterious wolf, he was starting to become somewhat numb to the feeling. Still, he felt intrigued by what mysteries that this tablet potentially held, and slowly moved up to it for closer inspection, half-expecting to get zapped or knocked unconscious again.

Nothing happened, though. He stood right in front of the tablet and stared at the grainy design of the stone it was made of in the dim blue glow, but nothing else stuck out to him.

However, now that he was standing closer, he began to squint and just barely make out something that was covered up on the stone, most likely by dust and age.

"_Looks like something is written here…but I can't make it out."_ Reaching out with his hand, he swiped his thumb across it to clear off some of the dust.

The moment his hand made contact with the rough surface, its glow began to intensify.

"_Oh crap…here we go again!"_ he thought, shielding his face with his arms as he turned away, expecting to be atomized if nothing else.

But again, nothing happened.

Peeking out from behind his arm, Alex saw that the glow of the stone itself had diminished, somehow transferring itself and concentrating into writing on the surface of the stone, each symbol glowing a bright silvery blue.

The only problem was…he couldn't read it. Just like the one in the orb, he couldn't make out any of the various kanji symbols dotting the surface of the tablet, and he was almost certain that it said something important.

But even so, something drew him to the tablet again, as his eyes searched over the lettering and his hands brushed over the surface, both searching for something in the writing.

He didn't know what it was, but something was driving him at that moment, driving him to find the answer to this riddle. His eyes continued to scan over the words, faster and faster, picking out phrases that seemed strangely familiar to him as he began to whisper intelligible words to himself.

_Voices in his head…speaking to him…telling him the meaning to it all…_

_But what _did_ it mean?_

_Kono doa o koete susumudarou kare e…_To he who would step beyond this door…

_Regashī ga saki ni aru koto o shitte iru…_Know that your legacy lies ahead.

Before his mind had even caught up to what was happening, he found himself uttering the phrase, _"Watashi wa watashi no sosen no isan o ukeireru."_

With a loud groan of grinding stone, the tablet suddenly unsealed itself with a cloud of dust, and slowly opened inwards, revealing a second chamber behind. Ancient winds sealed behind the door rushed out, carrying the musty scent of age with them.

(_Wolf's Rain OST – Sleeping Wolves_)

_"Did...did I do that? What the hell? I don't even KNOW any Japanese!"_

Shaking his head in horrible confusion, Alex nonetheless walked up and slowly pushed the door further open to see inside.

The sight that greeted him was…interesting, to say the least. The room was made of the same water-smoothed stone that the rest of the cave was, and was almost perfectly circular in nature. He could also see a small ring-like depression lining the floor at the bottom of the wall, possible meant to hold water that had dried up long ago, judging from the smoothed out pebbles that lined the bottom of it.

What really caught his attention though was in the center of the room: built on top of a tiny island, in the middle of the ring of water pebbles, was a simple stone pedestal. A stone pedestal with a sword resting on top of it.

And not just any sword...a katana, its shape made obvious by its sheath, covered by dull, greying leather that was peeled back by age. The hilt of the weapon appeared to be untouched, however, the classic black-and-silver crisscrossing pattern still apparent through the thick layer of dust that covered it.

He told himself that he might be breaking and entering and that this weapon might have been someone's possession…and yet, something drew him towards the sword. Not curiosity, and certainly not greed, but something else…something beyond him.

His shoes kicking up the pebbles as he strode through the ring, he stopped right in front of the pedestal and looked down at the sword, what little metal was visible gleaming brightly as though of its own accord.

He couldn't be sure, but the sword almost seemed to be calling out to him…like it was waiting for him, waiting to be picked up by the man who had discovered its ancient tomb, waiting to be free from this place deep within the earth.

"_Should I really take this…?"_ he wondered, looking from side to side as though to make sure he wasn't being watched. _"I don't know how to use a katana, but it's still a weapon. At the very least, I'll be able to defend myself if more of those 'things' show up…or that wolf."_

Lifting his arm, he gingerly reached out for the weapon, the intensity of its call growing as his hand came closer and closer, shaking in fear and apprehension.

Taking a deep breath, he muttered "Screw it," and grabbed it by the middle, lifting it straight off the pedestal.

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><p>Although the dirty, dried up tree stump that she stood in front of didn't appear like much, Amaterasu knew that within it lay an entire civilization.<p>

Having stopped off at the Onia village of Wep'keer during her several-hour trip out of the frozen mountains, Amaterasu had hoped to see Oki and the others before visiting Ponc'tan, where she was almost certain that Issun was currently residing at. However, the only people she had run into were Kai and several other villagers in the near-empty village, who had informed her that many of the others were out on some kind of "great hunt" and wouldn't be back for quite some time. Kai had told her personally that she had no idea where Oki was, the Onia man having left Wep'keer nearly a month ago without a single word or message.

Saddened by the fact that she couldn't see the brave warrior, Amaterasu nonetheless had other friends she had to see before Waka inevitably came calling, and had enlisted the aid of Kai to lead her through the Forest of Yoshpet to Ponc'tan once more, the tiny city living situated within the hollowed out remains of an old tree stump.

It was this stump that she now stood in front of now, waiting patiently as Kai trotted up in her own wolf form, panting heavily with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Spirits of the air, earth, and sea, Amaterasu!" she gasped out. "I've never seen you run so fast before! Where did the sudden spring in your step come from?"

"_Would you believe me if I said that I was ecstatic over the possibility of seeing Issun again?"_ she asked innocently, still unable to speak in her wolf form and therefore having to communicate through telepathy.

"Normally, yes," Kai barked, sitting down to catch her breath. "But I hardly believe you were _that_ excited!"

Smiling inwardly, Amaterasu turned to her and said, "Thank you for leading me here, Kai. I will be fine for now."

"Of course, Amaterasu," Kai said, bowing respectfully. "May the spirits of the air, earth, and sea protect you on whatever journey you undertake…and may they grant me strength the next time you wish to race."

Nodding in response, Amaterasu watched Kai trot off back into the thick, snow-covered forest, her brown fur quickly disappearing through the trees.

Turning back to the stump, she walked up to it and reached out a paw, lightly tapping the side of it near the small hole in the side that served as the entrance to the "great" city. After a moment, a cautious looking little creature no bigger than a human's thumb peeked out, wearing a great big helmet made from the carapace of a beetle, carrying a tiny spear the size of a toothpick, and generally looking very cautious. After all, who would come all this way out into the middle of a forest that was notorious for getting people lost?

"Yes? Who's there?" he asked. "If this is on party business, Master Issun wishes for no more visi-"

The rest of the words died in his throat as his eyes settled on Amaterasu, sitting there patiently. From the look on his face, the poncle guard could clearly see the red markings that identified her as a divine being. That came as no surprise to Ammy, given that fact that poncles had a long standing history of being the celestial envoys to the thirteen brush gods, so it was essentially a given that most poncles believed in them as well.

"A…Amaterasu?" he stuttered. Stepping out for a closer look, he broke out into a wide smile when he confirmed her markings. "Bless my heart, it IS you! What brings you back to Nippon?"

"_Important business that can wait until later, my good man,"_ she stated. _"Is Issun here? May I speak with him?"_

"Issun…? Ah, yes, Master Issun! I shall fetch him at once! Please wait here!"

Quickly disappearing inside, Ammy faintly remembered the time she had once ventured into the city of Ponc'tan herself, with the aid of a magical mallet that allowed her to shrink to an appropriate size. Issun, being the stubborn little bug he was, refused to go in for reasons she found out later, but it was still an interesting experience in what she liked to call the city of "little Issuns".

She huffed a bit, her wolf form not easily allowing for sighs, wishing she had that mallet right now so she could go in and visit Issun herself. But since she was lacking the instrument at the moment, she decided to settle for the next best thing.

Closing her eyes, she focused her heightened senses upon the stump, searching for the guard's aura as well as Issun's, and after a moment of searching, found the guard pounding on the wooden door of what she assumed to be Issun's house.

"_Master Issun! Master Issun!" _she heard him call, her ears picking up his voice as though she were standing there next to him.

There was a loud sigh from inside, followed by a familiar voice: _"No _THANK YOU_! I've had enough partygoers, well-wishers, and long-lost relatives to last me for the next twenty birthdays!"_

"_But…Master Issun! Amaterasu is here to see you! She's standing out by the front gate!"_

Silence, and then _"Did someone put you up to this, as a birthday joke? 'Cause if they did, I'm gonna…!"_

"_No, Master Issun, never! She is waiting at the front gate for you! She asked to see you specifically!"_

There was a loud _crash_, followed by an _"OOF!"_ as Ammy realized that Issun had thrown his door open in his rush and accidentally smashed the poor guard's nose in with it. Quickly recovering her senses, she opened her eyes right as a familiar face came out to see her.

Issun hardly looked a day older than she had last seen him a year ago, perhaps with his complexion filled out a bit more, but for the most part, he was still the same old, green-glowing poncle whose presence she had come to cherish during their time together.

They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them speaking.

"_Furball…?"_ he whispered, hardly daring to breath.

Her tail started wagging, her mouth open as she panted happily. _"Hello, old friend."_

(_Okami Soundtrack – Grand Reunion_)

"FURBALL!" he shouted happily, leaping off the perch onto her head, hugging her muzzle with all the strength he could muster. "It IS you!"

With a laugh, she shook him off and gave him a big wet kiss in the form of a lick from her long tongue, covering him in saliva.

"_Blech_! Wolf spit!" he complained, but hardly caring for once in his life, much too happy with the reappearance of his best friend. Shaking himself off, he hopped back up onto her head, bouncing around with the same enthusiasm she had seen in him way back when, during their first adventure. "It's great to see you again!"

"_You too, Issun!" _she replied with a happy bark. _"And did I hear correctly? Is today really your birthday? Had I known ahead of time, I would have brought a gift."_

"Aw, it's alright Furball," Issun replied, still bouncing around in his usual way. "You showing up is enough for me."

"_Still, I wish there was something I could do to help you celebrate."_

"Hmm…well, maybe…I know!" he exclaimed suddenly. "If you're down here in Nippon, that means you're on some kind of new adventure, right?"

"_Well, actually…"_

"Great! Then you can let me come with you and help you out with whatever you're doing, just like old times!"

"_But…"_

"Don't try and talk me out of it, furball. You know that there's no stopping me once I've made a decision!" Hopping back over to the entrance, he shouted, "Hey, guard! Come here for a sec!"

"Yes, Master Issun?" the guard replied, suddenly sounding very nasally as he held his bruised nose.

"Tell Gramps that I'm going out with Ammy here, and probably won't be back for about a week or three! Can ya do that?"

"Three weeks? B-but…Master Issun! What about your-"

"Forget my party! Tell all those freeloaders to go home! I've got bigger things to do!"

"..Y-yes, Master Issun," the guard replied dejectedly, clearly not looking forward to his task.

"Good man!" came the enthusiastic reply. Hopping back up to his usual position atop Ammy's head, he struck an adventurous pose, his finger pointed toward the trail, and said "Onward, to brave horizons!"

Amaterasu simply stood there, making a confused sound as she looked up at him, still holding his pose.

"Uh…Ammy…that means let's go."

"_Don't you need supplies or anything?"_

"Ah, forget supplies! I've got my brush and Denkomaru already, so I say leap before you think! I'll just snack on some of those delicious fruits that you carry around all the time!"

Rolling her shoulders in the wolf equivalent of a shrug, she began heading away from the village back into the depths of Yoshpet. Behind them, the guard shouted, "Farewell, Master Issun! May the spirits bring you and Amaterasu luck upon your journey!"

Heading off into the forest, with the familiar weight hopping atop her head, Amaterasu felt a serene sense of contentment and smiled in the way only a wolf could.

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><p>At first, he could only see darkness…but that was until he realized that he had closed his eyes in fear of some horrible incident occurring as he picked up the sword, which he was holding away from himself as though it were a poisonous snake.<p>

Looking back at it, he came to the eventual conclusion that nothing had happened, and relaxed a bit as he switched his grip and held the sheathed weapon in both hands.

"_Well THAT was anticlimactic,"_ he thought, as he experimentally pulled the sword partway out to look at the gleaming metal of the blade. _"But considering everything else that's happened to me so far, I'm not going to complain."_

Examining the dusty, peeling, leather-bound sheath, he noticed a pair of tightly woven silk cords, one attached to each end of it, obviously meant to tie the weapon in place on its wielder's back. Deciding that it couldn't hurt, he fumbled around with the sword until he got it lying flat against his back, and then set to tying a simple knot over his sweater. It took him a few tries, along with some cursing, but he eventually got it to stick.

Now armed, and feeling a bit empowered by that fact, Alex nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the cave, the sword clacking slightly as he walked. Going back into the first room, he immediately noticed something different.

"_Whoa…this is new."_

The walls of the first cavern had mysteriously lit up in a series of blue runic markings that he was certain weren't there before. Shifting patterns flowed into each other with flawless precision, forming elaborate designs that were both confusing and awe-inspiring at the same time, covering the walls…and leading down a tunnel that lay on the other side of the crack in the wall.

"_Strange…I never saw that tunnel before. Must've been hidden by the shadows."_

Wondering what could possibly be causing the lit-up markings, his thoughts wandered over to the one mystical item he was carrying besides the empty glass sphere, and he reached up with his right hand to grab the sword hilt situated over the same shoulder, carefully drawing it out. He had to fumble with it a bit more when his inexperienced sword hand tried to bring the weapon around too soon, causing the long blade's tip to catch on the opening, but after extending his arm further, he finally got it out to look at it.

From what he could see when he first picked it up, the metal of the blade had been gleaming brightly as though recently polished, even though there was barely any light for it to be reflecting. However, now that he had drawn it, the weapon's glow had taken on the same bluish hue as the runic designs on the wall, which in response had suddenly brightened up even more, creating enough blue light that Alex could now see clearly, which he found to be a great relief to his sore eyes, having been in darkness for too long.

"_I see now…"_ he thought. _"That crack in the wall that I slipped in through wasn't a natural part of this tunnel. By going through it, I essentially skipped ahead of wherever this tunnel started straight to the end where this sword was…so by 'backtracking' through it, I might be able to find an entrance and use it to get out this ravine! It'll beat climbing out, THAT'S for sure…"_

Looking down the tunnel, the glowing runes trailing off into the distance, he started walking, his footsteps echoing off the walls as he followed the runes leading him through the tunnel, and since he was backtracking through it instead of going forward, he found that he didn't have to worry about branching paths or anything, as the only splits in the trail were directly to his left or right, the main path straight ahead. After walking for what he figured was about ten minutes, he began to feel a cool breeze against his face, a sure sign that he was getting close to the surface.

"_About time…"_ he thought. _"I'm so tired that I feel like I'm going to drop dead any second."_ Continuing forward, he saw that the tunnel eventually came to an end, the only other path available being what looked to be a trap door of sorts above him. The wood was still remotely intact, some of it having been rotted away, so it was an easy task for a very exhausted Alex to push it open and pull himself out into the fresh open air.

Having never been so glad to see the moon in his life, Alex picked himself up took note of his new surroundings. He appeared to have come up into what looked to be the remains of some kind of small building, now horrendously dilapidated by age and falling into ruin. He couldn't see much else in the moonlight, since now he was without the mystical runes to guide him, but he could tell that the building, even without a roof, was still intact enough that it would provide a moderate amount of shelter.

Deciding that it would be enough, he pulled off the sword and his sweater, using the latter to make an impromptu pillow for himself, and lay down on the floor of the ruined building. After checking to make sure nothing was walking up on him like those other creatures, he lay back and fell asleep almost instantly, too tired to care about anything else.

He did, however, keep the sword clutched firmly in his hands, the steel blade glowing a soft blue as the moonlight struck it.

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><p><strong>Yeah, like I said, not much action. I kinda felt warm and fuzzy inside writing the reunion between Ammy and Issun. I'm a sucker for scenes like that -.-<strong>

**Anyways, rate and review, and I'll see you next time!**


	6. Fox Tales

**Hey, peeps, I'm back!**

**Again, I'm really sorry that this took so long, but I ended up really fine-tuning this chapter, and halfway through, I also ended up scrapping most of it and starting up again. I PROMISE the action will pick up more in the next few chapters, though, that much is certain.**

**And thank you for all of your reviews, Pink and Shadow and everyone else who is reviewing/decides to review. Awesome people like you are what make a man like me wanna keep writing. ^.^**

**Also, happy early birthday to me! I'm gonna be 21 in just a few days! *Throws confetti***

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: Fox Tales<strong>

Alex slept long into the day, only waking when the angle of the sun caused light to get in his eyes through the non-existent ceiling of the ruined building he was resting in. Stretching out, keeping his eyes shut for a moment longer as he enjoyed the last vestiges of the best sleep he had had in a long time, he let off an enormous yawn before finally opening them, expecting to see the inside of the dilapidated building partially illuminated by the morning sun.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was another pair of eyes…bright green in color and right in his face.

"GAH!" he screamed, scrambling away until he was up against the wall behind him, panting like he had just run a marathon as his heart hammered away in his chest. Getting a good look at the thing, he could spot the reddish-orange fur mixed with several patches of black and a little bit of white, with its bright green eyes staring at him and its bushy tail twitching idly behind it.

"Holy…Son of a…"he sputtered out. _"It's just a fox…dammit, that scared me! I nearly had a heart attack!" _he thought, forcing himself to calm down and slow his beating heart as he looked at the fox, still sitting there and studying him.

"Hey, you're awake, mister!" it said after a moment, in the voice of a young child, hopping to its feet with an excited look on its face.

"No shi-!" Alex began to answer, before stopping. "W-wait a sec…did…did you just _talk?_"

It was then that he finally noticed the intelligence that was clearly shining in the fox's bright green eyes, right before it turned and ran out of the house, shouting "Mom! Mom! He's awake!"

"_Mom?"_ he thought. "Hey, wait a minute!" he shouted, grabbing his sweater and sword before taking off after the bounding fox and slipping both on as he ran.

Following it out into the sun, he saw that there were actually several different buildings around the one he had been in, each one in a similar state of disrepair, but many of them varying in size and layout. A quick glance around as he ran told him that he must have come up inside some kind of ghost town or ruins. His suspicions were only further confirmed when the fox led him around the husk of a particularly large building and along the remains of what he noticed had once been some kind of stone wall, one that must have protected the place against intruders.

Continuing to follow the fox, barely catching glimpses of its tail as it dashed around several corners, Alex noticed that it was heading deeper into the complex, towards the center. Passing through the large open "alleys" between the buildings, the knee-high grass rustling as the two rushed through it, Alex caught another glimpse of orange fur off to the side, a slightly larger fox bursting out of a hiding place and bolting right for the smaller one he was following.

"Yaaaaaahhh!" it shouted, tackling the smaller fox. "I've got you now, foolish samurai!"

"Argh! You'll never take me alive, Evil Emperor!" came the smaller fox's reply, the two of them squealing and yipping loudly as they tumbled and rolled in mock battle. Coming up behind them, Alex came to a stop and watched as the two of them broke up and ran off into a nearby building, the larger fox, which he realized had _two_ tails, chasing the smaller one and its single tail.

"_Two tails…? Was there some kind of poisonous underground gas in that cave or something? Could I possibly be hallucinating right now?"_

Scratching his head in confusion, Alex heard a soft _thump_ behind him, followed by a short gust of wind that blew through his clothes.

Turning around, he came face-to-face with another fox, this one much bigger than the other two combined….so big, in fact, that it was tall enough to look him straight in the eyes even while he was standing. Not only that, but its fur had apparently lost its typical coloration, fully replaced by a light brown sheen that seemed to ripple in the wind like the grass they were standing in.

Alex also counted _seven_ tails, waving around behind it like an elaborate fan.

The two regarded each other for a moment, neither one making a move.

"Uh…" Alex began nervously, unsure of how to address a clearly intelligent fox. "…You must be 'Mom', I'm guessing?"

The fox tilted its head at him, leaning in for a closer look, before saying, "You wouldn't happen to be one of my children, would you?" in a clearly feminine voice.

"Um…no."

"Hmm…" she said, looking him up and down. "I thought not. I doubt any of my children could shape-shift this early in their lives, and even if they could, I doubt they would be able to come up with something as creative as the outfit you're wearing."

"_Shape-shifting?" _he wondered. _"Wha…?"_

"Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" she said, extending out her central tail towards him. "My name is Miyu. What's yours?"

Looking at the tail for a moment, Alex gingerly reached out and took it in his hand, shaking it like he would with another person's hand. "Alex," he stated simply.

"Alex?" she repeated. "Odd name…I can't say for certain that I've heard one quite like it before. Well, there _was_ that man from Sei-an about a year back…what was his name again?" Her eyes grew unfocused as Alex realized that she was deep in thought, and after waiting a few moments to see if she would snap out of it, he cleared his throat to try and regain her attention.

"Hmm?" she said, blinking a few times. "Oh, I'm sorry dear, I was miles away right there. Err…where were we again?"

"Introductions?"

"Ah, yes. Oh children!" she called out. "You can come out now! Come and meet our guest!"

(_Wolf's Rain OST – Pilgrim Snow_)

Alex looked back, and saw the two younger foxes that had been playing stick their heads out of different holes in the wall of the building they were in, one on a higher floor than the other. In another building, he saw several other heads poke out, three in all, and each one looking straight at him.

Walking out into the open, the five young foxes, each one having either one or two tails, came right up to him, clearly not afraid of contact with humans. One of them began sniffing at his shoes while the others either jostled for position to get a look at the sword he was carrying, or commented on his "strange attire".

"Hey, mister! You're really tall up close!"

"Where'd you get that cool sword, mister?"

"Do you know how to play 'hide and seek' mister? Do ya?"

"Those are the weirdest looking clothes I've ever seen!"

The questions and comments came pouring in one after the other…and despite himself, Alex couldn't help but feel a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Something about the scene just stuck him as so darn cute that he could feel himself smirking, especially when an enterprising young fox bit into his pant leg and started a playful tug-of-war.

"Now, now, children…" Miyu chided gently, brushing the fox aside with one of her tails. "Give the man some room; he's clearly been through a lot. Haven't you, dear?" she added, turning to look at him.

"Oh, you have _no idea_," he said.

"How about we take a walk while you tell me, then?" she suggested, and Alex agreed. Miyu sent her children out to play again, and the two of them began to stroll through the lanes between the buildings, conversing over Alex's recent experiences as they heard the laughter and squeals of the young foxes.

He found it difficult to talk to her at first, given the obvious fact that she was a giant, multi-tailed _fox_ of all things, but after a minute or so, he eventually found the conversation proceeding more smoothly as he realized just how relieving it was to finally be able to talk to someone who wasn't trying to kill him, and to be able to relate all of the crap that had been happening to him since he had arrived.

"So, you just fell right in?" she asked.

"More like I slipped in when the ground gave way beneath me," he corrected. "But yeah, I fell in, and the landing knocked me unconscious for a few hours and gave me all of _these_," he said, gesturing at his various cuts and bruises that were visible through his thoroughly beaten-up clothes.

"Then I imagine that, when you woke up, you wanted to find a way out?"

"Of course. I walked for _hours_ down that ravine looking for a way out, but the only thing I could find was a crack in the wall big enough for me to slip through."

"What was on the other side?"

"A cave…with a weird door on the wall that had all these glowing symbols on it."

Miyu stopped, looking at him quizzically as she sat on her haunches. "A door…glowing…?" she whispered, almost too low for him to hear. "Did you open it?"

"That's the weird thing!" he exclaimed. "I don't know _how_ the hell I managed to do it! All I did was walk up and start touching it because I was curious, and I just started hearing these weird voices in my head. And before I even knew it, I just blurted out some kind of phrase in a language _I don't even know_…and I found _this_ inside," he said, carefully pulling out the sword to show it to her.

Leaning in for a few sniffs, she seemed to ponder the weapon for a few seconds before looking back up at him and saying, "Go on."

"Well…that's pretty much it," he said, clumsily sheathing the sword. "Oh, except for the fact that the cave walls started _glowing_ when I came out, which is what let me find my way out to the entrance over that-a-way," he added, gesturing in the general direction of the trap door he had come up through.

"Fascinating," she said, licking one of her paws nonchalantly. "So you're saying that this crack in the ravine wall served as a sort of 'side entrance' to the actual tunnel?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Mmm…"

They stood there in silence for a minute, nothing but the sounds of the wild rolling through the grass and the continued laughter of the young foxes reaching them, before Alex decided to break it.

"So…not to freak you out or whatever, but you seem pretty trusting to just be willing to show off your family like that. What if I was, I don't know, some kinda fox hunter or something?"

She looked up from her paw to stare at him for a moment, before throwing her head back and laughing loudly in a rather odd manner, sounding a lot like _hee hee hee ho ho ho _as it echoed throughout the ruins.

"Ah, forgive me Alex," she said between lingering chuckles, using one of her tails to wipe a tear from her eye. "That statement alone tells me that you are anything _but _a fox hunter. For starters, we are not mere foxes. We are _kitsune_."

"_Kitsune?" _he thought, resisting the urge to smack himself on the forehead. _"THAT'S why they look so familiar! How'd I not see that earlier?"_ He had heard about the Japanese myth of the legendary trickster foxes, which could often take on the appearance of humans and found entertainment in either messing with their heads, or testing their wits and morals.

"Secondly, I could already tell that, while extremely flustered over our appearance, you bare no ill-will towards us. Being a kitsune, especially one of my age and power, means that I can see much more than just your outer appearance."

"Wait…does that mean you can stare into my soul or something?"

She smiled, showing off her rows of sharp canine teeth, before turning and walking away, lightly smacking him of the tip of his nose with one of her tails. "Maybe," she said.

Jumping back and grabbing at his face, he quickly recovered and ran to catch up with her. "So, do these 'kids' of yours have a dad?"

"Of course. You don't think I raise five children at once _by myself_, do you?" she asked rhetorically. "As a matter of fact…" she began, tilting her head to listen to something off in the distance, "…I think I hear him coming now."

Alex looked in the direction she was listening, and sure enough, he spotted a large blur of light brown fur making its way through the thick forest trees that lined the edge of the ruins. With a _whoosh _and a soft _thump_, the male kitsune landed within the perimeter of the ruins, carrying the body of a large antlered deer in his mouth. No sooner had he dropped it on the ground than the cry of "Yay! Daddy's home!" echoed out, the horde of tiny foxes running out to greet him. Immediately assaulted by them as they tried to jump on his back or make playful grabs for his paws and tails, the latter of which were also seven in number, he laughed as he wrestled them all off, each of the young foxes eventually ending up wrapped in one of his large tails that Alex realized had _remarkable_ dexterity.

"Aww, no fair Dad! You cheated!" came the squeals of the defeated foxes.

"Perhaps, but I went to a lot of trouble getting this meal for all of you. Now would you really want to beat up your old dad after all he went through?"

"No…" came the grumbling replies.

"Good! Then eat up, there's plenty for all of you!" Letting them all go at once, the young foxes immediately began to tear into the deer, again jostling for position and bickering loudly. Looking up from the spectacle, he immediately spotted Miyu and came trotting over, a big toothy grin on his face.

"Miyu, my darling!" he called out. "Looking beautiful as ever I see!"

"Oh, Ren, you charmer, you!" she called back, the two of them nuzzling each other affectionately. "Oh, did you notice, Ren?" she suddenly spoke up. "We have a guest today."

"Hmm? A guest?" he asked, looking around before his eyes settled on the man standing nearby.

"Hey…uh, name's Alex," the man began, holding out his hand. "And you're Ren, I heard?"

The kitsune said nothing, but came over and sniffed his hand and few times before his gaze drifted up to the sword on Alex's back. Alex, suddenly feeling a bit nervous, let his hand slowly fall back to his side as Ren went over to his right and sniffed at the hilt of the weapon

After what seemed like several minutes, he settled down in front of the man and asked, "Where did you find that sword?"

"…In a cave below the ruins here," he answered warily.

"Hmm…did you happen to get it from a room behind some kind of stone tablet-door?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Because…" the large kitsune began, his voice turning deathly serious, "…That's _my _sword…_and you're stealing it_."

Alex felt the blood drain from his face as the kitsune came up onto all fours, crouching down into a fighting stance with his seven tails flared out angrily behind him, the tip of each on glowing with a strange purple-tinged fire.

"Wait…I can…uh…well…_oh shit…_" Alex stuttered, backing away as the giant fox advanced on him.

"It's too late now, human," Ren growled as he advanced another step. "You know what kitsune do to thieves in their land, don't you?"

"I…well…um…" Alex continued to stutter, staring at the vicious purple fire at the end of each tail.

"Well, _you're about to find out_," the angry kitsune said, readying himself to pounce on the human as the fire on his tails flared up.

At that moment, Miyu came up beside him and said, "Dear, you really shouldn't be trying to scare him like that…he's been through a lot in the past day, you know."

Ren only stood there for a moment, looking at a suddenly confused Alex, then at her, and then back to Alex, before his tails drooped and he seemed to deflate a bit as he settled down.

"Miyu…" he began. "I was just having a little fun with the man."

"Yes, but we don't want him having a heart attack or running away screaming into the forest now, do we?" she stated. "He's the first bit of pleasant company we've had in years."

"What about that one imp that stumbled in here about a year back? You seemed pretty content to talk with him."

"Yes…before you ate him."

"_Imps?" _Alex thought, but disregarded it. "Ok, hang on a minute here!" Alex suddenly broke in angrily, as the two kitsune turned to look at him. "Just what the hell was all that about? !"

"Oh…you'll have to forgive my mate," Miyu said apologetically. "He takes a particular liking to messing around with anyone looking for the sword you have."

"Wait…you mean there were other people looking for this thing?" Alex said, jabbing his thumb back at the sword over his shoulder.

"Yes, treasure hunters mostly, but you're the first one to ever get past us," Ren spoke up. "We've been here for…oh, about fifty years, raising families and heading off anyone who came looking for that weapon with our powers of illusion, but you're the first person to actually get their hands on that piece of junk!"

"_Piece of junk?"_ he thought. _"I don't think so." _Looking back at them, he asked, "So, why are you keeping people away from here then?"

"Because it's _fun_!" Miyu said excitedly.

"Yes, it's extremely fun to mess with anyone trying to test their luck and see if they can get in deep enough to find the entrance to that cave," Ren said. "I once got a man to walk around the same building _ten times_ before he realized something was wrong!"

"Oh, don't forget about the time I knocked that one man out by causing him to walk into that wooden beam!" Miyu laughed.

"Ah, yes, the beam!" Ren laughed along with her. "I still remember the look on his face when he woke up, outside the ruins where he started! Priceless!"

"_These two are a couple of nuts, they are," _Alex though, suppressing a snicker.

When the two kitsunes' laughter had died down, Ren turned to Alex and said, "So how did you do it?"

"Huh?" Alex replied, confused.

"How did you get past us into the cave? Did you mask your scent somehow? Or did you find a way to make yourself invisible? Or maybe you just ran in head-first and got lucky?"

"Well…there was a crack in the wall inside a ravine not too far from here. I slipped in through that."

"You mean…you completely_ bypassed_ the ruins?" came the incredulous reply.

"Uh…yeah…I kinda came out through the entrance though…I was actually trying to get out of the ravine, you see."

"…You found it by _accident?_"

"Yeah…"

"It's true dear," Miyu said. "He told me a few moments before you arrived."

Ren's head drooped down, a sad look in his eyes. "Well, that certainly puts a cork in our fun, doesn't it dear? No more sword to 'protect' means the people will stop coming…" he said, turning to look at Miyu, who gave him a comforting nuzzle.

"Don't worry…" she said. "Now that the sword's been taken, we can always find a new place to live!"

"I suppose…the pickings _have_ been getting a little thin, seeing as how no one's shown up for a long while now. Still, I was hoping for that one epic battle of wits with a worthy opponent before we had to go…not someone who got past the challenge by _accident_."

"You could always have a battle of wits with _me_, dear…" she said, a mischievous smile on her face.

"You know what happened the last time we did that?" he asked dryly.

"Yes…" she said dreamily. "What a week that was!"

"Whoa, ok now!" Alex broke in again, before he heard too much. "If you two are looking for a new place to live, there's this secluded little grove of flowers and cherry trees about a day's hike from here, at least by my time. I don't know how fast you kitsune can travel, but if you can find it, it'll be perfect for you!"

"Really?" Ren asked. "Where is it?"

"Well, let's see…" Alex muttered, looking off into the distance as he tried to retrace his steps. "Like I said, there's a big ravine nearby, so you can't miss it. Follow that down until you see a river off to the side. Follow that river in the same direction until you see a big dirt cliff jutting out of the side of the valley, and the grove should be somewhere behind it. You might have to search for it a bit, but it's there, trust me."

"What do you think, dear?" Ren asked, turning to his mate.

"He speaks the truth. I can see it in his eyes," Miyu stated. "It will at least be worth a try."

"Very well, then," Ren sighed. "I sure am going to miss this place, though."

"I know, dear," she said, nuzzling him again. "But you'll get over it."

"Perhaps…oh children!" he called out, the small horde of foxes poking their heads out before stampeding over to him. "We're going to be moving to a new home today, so make sure you've eaten your fill and relieved yourselves before we go!"

"Awwww…" came the collective reply. "But it's fun here!"

"I know, children," Miyu said. "But one thing you should always know is that change will happen whether you want it to or not. So listen to your father and get ready to go."

After few visits to the deer carcass and behind a few nearby trees, the pack was ready to go, their father scooping them all up in his remarkably dexterous tails.

"Thank you, Alex," Miyu began. "You've been great company, but now it's time for us to go. Let us hope that we meet in the future!"

"Uh…sure," Alex replied, not feeling the same way at all.

Suddenly remembering something important, Alex quickly said, "Hey, wait! Do you think you could point me in the direction of the nearest town?"

"The nearest town…" Miyu said thoughtfully. "Hmm…the nearest town would possibly be Kamiki village, in that direction," she said, pointing one of her tails towards the patch of trees where the forest continued. "Follow the valley down until you reach the edge of the forest and see a road…you'll be in Taka Pass then. Follow the road through the pass and through the much smaller Agata forest, and you'll reach Shinshu fields. Once you start crossing it, you can't miss the village."

"Down the valley, through the pass, through the forest, and across the field," he recited. "Got it."

"And with that, we're off!" Ren shouted triumphantly. "Farewell!"

He and Miyu leapt into the air, bouncing off the tops of the buildings as though they were light as air, quickly disappearing into the distance as Alex waved goodbye.

His stomach chose that exact moment to growl loudly, and Alex realized that he hadn't eaten anything but berries for a _long_ time. Sighing, he took one last look around the ruins before walking off.

As he headed for the forest, he briefly considered the half-eaten deer carcass that still lay there, but immediately rejected the idea. _"I'm not THAT_ _hungry,"_ he thought disgustedly.

* * *

><p>As he walked, he pondered his most recent experience.<p>

"_A family of kitsune, huh? Well there's something that you don't see every day. But what they said about watching that place, keeping people away from the tunnel with the sword…is this sword I picked up really something special, or is it really just a piece of junk like Ren said?"_

His thoughts turned to the glowing walls of the cave, and how the sword itself had glowed the moment the bluish light had struck it.

"_Was it just reflecting the light…?"_ he wondered._ "Well, piece of junk or not, I'm still holding onto it. It'll be good for self-defense at least. Even if it's dull, I can still hit things with it."_

The thought of a dull blade made him stop and rub his chin. Deciding to see for himself, he reached up and pulled out the sword, experimentally sliding his left thumb down the flat part of the blade, marveling at the smooth surface of the steel.

"_It's certainly shiny,"_ he thought. _"I wonder how much it'll sell for…"_ he thought with a humorous laugh, thinking back to the orb he still had.

It was a funny joke…right up until his thumb slipped across the sharp edge of the blade.

"OW! SON OF A…!" he shouted, grabbing his bleeding thumb as he reflexively dropped the sword to the ground with a loud _clang, _the point of it suspended in the air as it landed against a fallen tree branch.

Dancing around in pain, clenching his thumb tightly in his other hand, he didn't notice the drop of his blood running back down the sword, spreading across the point where blade met hilt, and mysteriously disappearing.

"Dammit!" he growled. "I'm gonna end up killing myself if those things don't get me first!" Keeping his thumb wrapped in his sweater, he picked up the sword and slid it back into its sheath.

"_What was it that those kitsune were talking about, with visitors and all?" _he thought, as he started walking again. _"Ren mentioned…an 'imp' as he called it? Could that be what I was attacked by?"_

Shaking his head and filing the thought away under his quickly growing list of questions still to be answered, he was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts when his stomach growled again.

"Come on…shut up!" he complained, looking down at his gut. "Your complaining is only going to make _me_ hungrier!"

As if in response, his stomach growled again, much more loudly this time, and he groaned out loud. "I know it's bad, but if we can find that river again, I'm sure that…there's…"

He stopped as his nose picked up a smell in the air, sniffing as he became more aware of the scent. The smell of it made him start drooling as he realized what it was: cooking meat.

"_I don't care if it's beef, pork, or venison…I'm so hungry right now, I could eat a damn horse if I had to!"_

Moving faster, he followed the smell through the forest until he spotted a clearing up ahead, and stopped as he suddenly came to his senses.

"_Wait…this could be a trap of some sort. What if there's more of those things out there? What if what I'm smelling is…is…!"_

The thought of human body parts cooking over a fire made him gag, but he quickly got ahold of himself and crouched down in the brush as he slowly crept closer, finding no harm in at least getting a look for himself.

Coming right up to the edge of the clearing, he pushed aside a bush and saw what was clearly a campsite of some kind. From his vantage point, he could see a tent and a small fire built in front of it, a wooden spit suspended over it with a hunk of meat attached and cooking. Looking around, Alex saw the skin of some kind of small animal with white fur and long ears lying nearby with a recently used skinning knife next to it.

"_Oh good…it's just a rabbit," _he thought. _"I was worried there for a second. But whose campsite is this?"_

He briefly considered waiting around until whoever owned the campsite returned, but his stomach growled loudly at the smell of cooking meat right there in front of him, and he quickly found his resolve weakening.

"_Well…I'm sure they won't miss a bite or two…or ten."_

Looking around, he slowly crept out of the bushes and up to the fire, the rabbit meat hissing and spitting as it cooked. Careful not to burn himself, he gently grabbed the ends of the spit and lifted it off, taking a huge whiff of the succulent meat. Licking his lips, he immediately dug in, wolfing the food down almost faster than he could swallow. The thievery made him feel a little guilty, but he figured that if whoever owned this campsite could catch one rabbit, they could certainly catch another.

Even though it had a complete lack spices and flavor, he didn't care. Right now, it was the best meal he had ever had. In fact, he was enjoying it so thoroughly that he didn't see the shadow detach itself from the forest and creep up behind him, and he didn't hear the quiet _snick_ as it drew its sword.

But he definitely felt the press of cold steel against his neck.

Stopping in mid-bite, Alex dropped the spit and slowly raised his hands in the air, knowing full well that he was caught.

"What's this?" a deep sounding voice said behind him. "A swordsman, caught off guard?"

Alex said nothing, as a strong arm grabbed him by the back of his sweater and lifted him to his feet with ease, the sharp edge of the sword still pressed against his neck.

"Well, I can't say that I was expecting to get robbed all the way out here. Still, it takes guts to steal from an Onia man's campsite. You must either be desperate, crazy…or suicidal."

"Hey, listen man…" Alex began, his voice shaky. "I'm sorry I had to do this, but I haven't eaten a decent meal in two days, I don't have _any_ water on me, and everything in this damn forest has been trying to eat me since I got here! So just take it easy, ok? I don't want to fight!"

"You don't want to fight…and yet you carry a sword, and attempt to steal from my campsite while I'm barely several paces away from it? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"_Yes!"_ Alex exclaimed.

There was silence from behind him, but the sword remained firmly pressed against his neck. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, the person behind him said "Turn around…let me see your face. And no sudden movements."

Alex obliged, not wanting to get skewered, and slowly turned around to look his captor in the eye.

There, standing in front of him with a large broadsword in his hand, was a man wearing a rough-looking blue shirt with a light red, loose-fitting vest over it, with matching pants and thick leather gloves of the same blue color. His face was obscured by a peculiar looking mask, looking almost like a wolf's face with its blue "fur" and white "muzzle", but Alex could clearly see the thick head of spikey black hair that was streaked with red coming out from the top of it. His exposed arms, covered with old scars, practically rippled with muscle, the tanned skin on them showing that the man obviously enjoyed his time outdoors.

Alex could see the man's eyes through the mask, searching him up and down as he continued to hold the sword point at Alex's neck. After a minute of the scrutiny, the masked man looked Alex dead in the eye, making him uncomfortable yet strangely unable to look away.

"You're the man I saved last night, are you not?" the masked man finally said.

"Saved…?" Alex said, scowling. "You must be thinking of some other guy, pal, 'cause I've never seen you before in my life."

"Of course you have…" the man said, eyeing him warily. "Think back to that night."

Alex was about to blow the crazy man's assumption off, when he noticed something.

Gold colored eyes. Wolf eyes.

The scene of the wolf that saved him came rushing back at that moment, the loud _crunch_ as it broke the creature's spine still ringing in his head, the animal looking him dead in the eyes and never breaking the gaze until the other creature had rushed it.

"No way…" Alex breathed. "You…you…you couldn't be!"

"Ah…so you do remember," the masked man said smugly, nodding. "This is the thanks I get for saving your life?"

Alex still couldn't talk, shaking his head in disbelief as he backed away from the crazy man that was still staring at him.

First the orb, then the weird hunchbacked creatures, then the wolf, _then the ravine_, _then the sword, THEN THE FOXES, AND NOW THIS! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE…I…I…!_

"I…I…think I need to sit down…" Alex said, suddenly feeling wobbly in the legs.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than he keeled over and puked his guts all over the ground, the stream of bile and chewed up food pouring from his mouth as the stress of the past two days finally came crashing down on him in a horrible mess.

When the deluge finally came to a stop, he fell over clutching at his stomach and collapsed on his back in the puddle of vile liquid, unconscious once again.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I've puked in real life before, when I got the stomach flu...not fun. Not fun at all.<strong>

**Anyways, rate and review if you want, and I'll see you next time!**


	7. The Man with the Mask

**Bleh. Another late chapter. Chalk this one up to birthday celebrations and the fact that the next college semester is starting soon. And you know what college means: updates are gonna be getting pretty few and far between, so you might as well start getting used to late updates. I'm sorry. I've failed you all as a writer :(**

**ANYWAYS...enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: The Man with the Mask<strong>

"_Honey, please, you've had enough!"_

"_I'll tell you when I've had enough!"_

"_Harold, please! EEK!"_

"_Dad? Dad, what are you DOING?"_

"_Go back to your room, Alex!"_

"_You've been drinking again! You're always drinking! Why now? !"_

"_Get out of my way!"_

"_NO! I've had it with you! Stop it, NOW!_

"_I said GET OUTTA MY WAY!"_

_CRASH!_

"_Alex!"_

"_You…YOU BASTERD!"_

…

_Do not lose hope, Alexander Grey. Your journey has only just begun. Let your weary mind be put at ease, for the road ahead will require its upmost clarity._

* * *

><p>Alex slowly opened his eyes, the sight of the dim orange sky in the waning hours of the day greeting him. Lining his vision was ring of trees, as good an indicator as any that he was still in the forest. Shifting around, he realized that he was lying on his back on a bedroll of sorts, his head propped up beneath his folded sweater, and his body was covered with a thick, fur-lined blanket that protected him from the increasingly cold chill of the coming night. To his right lay the tent, and before it was the campfire, crackling lazily as a small pot of some kind of stew cooked over it.<p>

Tending to it was the masked man with the large broadsword slung across his back, sitting there and staring into the fire unblinkingly, his gold eyes illuminated by the flames. In his hand was the glass orb that Alex had been carrying, and the masked man's gaze occasionally shifted down to ponder it for a moment before looking back up. Next to him lay the sword that Alex had found in the ruins, still in its sheath.

Getting up slowly, so as not to risk startling the man, Alex pulled the blanket away to make the discovery that his shirt had been removed, and his exposed torso and arms were covered in a variety of bandages. While slightly offended by the intrusion, Alex couldn't deny that his cuts and bruises felt much better, having obviously been cleaned and dressed properly. Hearing the noise Alex was making, the masked man looked over in his direction, regarding him for a moment with that same expressionless mask over his face before turning back to the fire and stirring the stew with a small ladle.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine…I guess," Alex replied. "My stomach feels a little weird, though."

"Understandable. You _did_ throw up after all."

"Yeah…sorry about that," Alex apologized. "I guess I kind of lost it there, huh?"

The man said nothing, choosing to continue stirring the stew. Alex waited a moment, but seeing no reply forthcoming, decided to at least get back on his feet. Pushing the blanket off the rest of the way, Alex sat up and grabbed his sweater, but frowned in confusion when he couldn't see his shirt.

"Hey, where's my shirt?" Alex asked.

"It was covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, not to mention torn up beyond usefulness…" the masked man replied matter-of-factly. "So I washed it in the river and used it to make your bandages."

"You…you _tore up my shirt_?" Alex said incredulously, looking down at his bandages and spotting the familiar designs on the fabric that used to be one of his favorite pieces of clothing.

"Yes, because it was perfect as bandage material. I didn't do the same to your overcoat because I thought you would want _something_ to wear at least."

"_Why you son of a…!"_ Alex thought, but bit back his anger. The last thing he wanted was to insult the guy with the big steel broadsword and make him angry. Heaving a great sigh, he threw his sweater on and walked over to the fire, sitting down opposite of the man who removed the ladle and lifted his mask just enough to reveal his mouth, tasting the stew and nodding in satisfaction. "Are you feeling well enough to eat?" he asked, to which Alex nodded.

Reaching over to his large pack nearby, he pulled out two wooden bowls and tossed one to Alex, who juggled it in surprise for a second before getting a hold of it. Pouring some stew into each one, the man set his bowl down and clapped his hands together, bowing his head as he muttered some kind of prayer. Alex watched for a second, unable to make out any of the words, before the masked man finished and picked his bowl up, slurping the stew straight from it. Alex copied him, careful not to burn his tongue, and the two of them ate in silence as the sun slowly sank lower in the sky, the orange color darkening and slowly being replaced by stars twinkling far above. The fire continued to burn brightly though, illuminating the campsite and its occupants with its flickering light.

When they were finished, Alex handed his bowl back over to the man, who set them aside and turned back to Alex, looking him straight in the eye.

After a moment, he said "You and I need to talk."

"About what?" Alex asked.

"Lots of things," the man replied. "For starters, who exactly are you?"

"…Alex," he replied. "Short for Alexander."

"Alright…where are you from, Alexander?" the man asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"No, seriously," Alex stated. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Well, surely you must be from _someplace_ in Nippon?"

"Nippa-what, now?" Alex asked, confused.

The man narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you some kind of foreigner, then?"

"You could say that."

"I suppose so…you clearly don't have any idea of what this place is, do you?"

"Nope…I was kinda hoping you'd tell me," Alex said.

"Perhaps when we finish with my own questions," the man stated. Picking up the glass orb, he asked, "What is this, exactly?"

"A glass orb I found," Alex said.

"Obviously, because it's far too large to be a glass bead," the man stated, bringing the orb up to his mask's "nose" to take a sniff. "Its scent is…strange. Where exactly did you find this?"

"I just found it, is all," Alex half-lied. "And if you don't mind, I'd like it back."

"You just found it?" the man asked, sounding unconvinced.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're getting at."

"Something like this isn't just _found…_"

"_I didn't steal it!"_ Alex stated, more loudly than he intended as the birds scattered from the nearby trees.

The man stared at him for a moment, looking Alex straight in the eyes, before slowly nodding. "Alright…" he conceded. "I believe you." Taking another sniff of the orb before handing it over, the man simply watched as Alex snatched it out of his hand and quickly stuffed it back into his sweater.

Reaching down to grab the sword lying next to him, the man set it across his lap and asked, "Is this your sword?"

"I was carrying it, wasn't I?"

"Yes…but you don't know how to use it, do you?"

"How can you be sure about that?"

"A true swordsman wouldn't have gone stumbling into an unknown campsite without at least drawing his weapon first and checking his surroundings," the man stated. "You did neither, so I assume that you have very little knowledge in the blade, if any at all."

The words stung, making Alex wince a bit, but he figured if it was that obvious, then there was no point in lying about it. "Ok, so I don't know how to use it. What's it to you?"

The man simply examined the sword a bit, running his hand along the old leather-bound sheath. Looking up at Alex, he asked, "May I?"

"Uh…sure."

With a _schwing_, the masked man drew the weapon with skill and confidence, running his finger along the flat part of the blade much like Alex had done but taking much greater care in not cutting himself on the sharp edge. Lifting the blade up to his eye, he stared down the length of the weapon, apparently checking how straight it was, although Alex had no idea what the man was seeing in the sword.

After a moment, the man lowered the weapon, apparently satisfied, and handed it back over to Alex. "This is a good sword," he said, nodding. "A little old and worn, perhaps, but the craftsmanship is excellent. Where did you get this from?"

"In the ruins not too far from here," Alex answered, holding fewer reservations about the weapon.

"Ruins…?" the masked man asked, looking over his shoulder in the direction Alex had come from. "You mean the Takeda Ruins?"

"Is that what they're called?" Alex asked.

"Yes, and the reason even a man from the north like me has heard of them is because those ruins are both cursed and infamous," the man stated. "Many have wandered into them, either seeking treasure or refuge, only to be led astray by the evil spirits lingering there."

"_Evil spirits, huh?"_ Alex thought, remembering his meeting with the kitsune. Almost as an afterthought, he decided to ask, "How did those ruins get there anyways?"

"Those ruins used to be a castle complex that belonged to an extremely wealthy and prestigious family in Nippon over a hundred years ago," the man said. "Some say that their wealth and power came from an ancient alliance that their ancestors had struck with the kitsune that used to live in this forest.

"_An alliance with kitsune?_ Alex thought._ "That would explain Miyu and Ren's presence here."_

"They lived here in coexistence with the kitsune for years," the man continued. "And for a while, they lived in peace, until a time about a hundred years ago…when Orochi came to the mortal plain of Nippon."

_Orochi…_something about the name sent a chill up Alex's spine.

"Who's Orochi?" he eventually asked.

The man said nothing for a moment, looking back to the fire, before slowly asking, "Tell me Alexander…what do you know about demons?"

(_Okami OST – Giant Monster in Wait_)

"Demons? Well…not much really," Alex said, shaking his head.

"I thought not. To answer your question, Orochi was a demon…" the man replied, clenching his fist as a bitter anger suddenly rose up in his voice. "A being of shadow, born to cause evil and chaos wherever he went. He was responsible for the horrific deaths of thousands of good people, some of them young maidens that he demanded be sacrificed to him each year. When he first arrived on Nippon, his armies of demons spread across the land, enslaving the people and killing those who resisted."

Taking a deep breath, the masked man calmed himself and continued. "From what I heard, however, those of the Takeda clan refused to submit to his will. With their kitsune allies, they took up arms and fought his demonic minions with all the force they could muster. They managed to persist for so long, that eventually, Orochi himself took notice…and that signaled their ultimate downfall."

"_I don't like where this is headed..."_ Alex thought, but continued to listen, intrigued by the story.

"Orochi himself joined that battle, intent on wiping out the 'impudent mortals' that had dared to resist him. With a blaze of fire, shadow, and other evil energies, he brought down the fortress with a single attack, allowing his minions to sweep over the defenders like a flood of water. Those who fled the carnage were hunted down and slaughtered. No mercy was shown to them that day…at least, from what I heard."

"Well, someone had to be able to fight him," Alex said. "He couldn't still be ruling today, could he?"

"Fortunately, no," the man answered. "As the legend goes, he was confronted and slain in his lair by a hero of the name of Nagi, with the aid of a celestial being named Shiranui in the form of a white wolf. Together, they were able to seal Orochi's spirit away and restore peace to the land. About a year ago, however, Orochi was freed by a foolish man who was seeking power, and sought to restore his place in the land. It was at this time that a distant descendant of Nagi, by the name of Susano, took up the blade and fought him."

"_Susano…I've heard that name before,"_ Alex realized, thinking back to the shadowy depiction of the battle in his apartment, courtesy of the orb. The man in that scene had briefly mentioned that name…_Susano-style blade of truth,_ as he had said. _"But if that man was Susano, then was that eight-headed monster…Orochi?" _he thought.

The image of the massive earthen platform, with a bell suspended on top and eight snarling, roaring heads growing out of the side came to mind, and he barely suppressed a shudder. "Did he have help this time also?" he asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, the reincarnation of Shiranui," the man said.

Waiting for the man to continue, but seeing nothing of the sort, Alex asked, "Who?"

"…_Amaterasu_," the man whispered, so quietly that Alex almost missed it. "…also in the form of a white wolf." He said nothing beyond that, falling silent as he stared back into the fire, obviously deep in thought about something.

"_So that wolf's name was Amaterasu…but what's a 'celestial being'?"_ Alex thought, and put that same question into words for the man, who came out of his thoughts long enough to stare at Alex incredulously.

"You mean you don't know about the celestial beings, or the Brush Gods, or the Celestial Plain itself?" he asked, to which Alex responded with a shake of his head. Sighing deeply, the man said, "Well, it seems you've got a lot to learn then."

"Then can I start asking my own questions?" Alex asked irritably.

"You already have been…but go ahead," the man answered.

"Ok…first off, who are _you?"_ Alex began.

"I am Oki, a warrior of the Oina tribe of Kamui," the man stated, more frankly than Alex was expecting.

"_Oki, huh?"_ Alex thought. "Well, I gathered the warrior part myself. Why else would you be carrying such a huge sword?"

"Normally, I wouldn't be," Oki answered. "My wolf half usually serves as enough. However, the road has become dangerous as of late, and more and more, I find myself needing it to aid in defending myself."

"Why? Does it have to do with those things you saved me from?"

"Yes. Those things that attacked you were called imps…minor demons, usually not worth a warrior's time. Seeing as how you were in danger, though, I figured I would step in and lend a hand, or rather a paw."

"_So they WERE imps…"_ Alex thought. "But if Orochi was commanding them as you said, wouldn't destroying him make them, like, disappear or something?" he asked.

"Perhaps…or perhaps not. Sightings of demons have become more frequent in recent days, and that could only mean two things: they are stragglers of Orochi's army that have begun to band together…or they have a new leader."

"A new leader? Who?" Alex asked, leaning forward.

"No one knows…" Oki answered mysteriously. "Demons are notoriously secretive about their ways."

"Could it get worse, then? Could the demons return in force someday?"

"That is a distinct possibility, although many of those living in Nippon would deny such claims. They believe that these demons pose no threat anymore, now that their leader has been destroyed. No threat…hmph!" he snorted.

"_If what he's saying is true…then I might be in for some more fights before I find my way back home," _Alex thought dejectedly, looking down at the sheathed sword lying across his lap. _"I won't last long with an old sword that I don't even know how to use, against demons like this 'Orochi' he keeps talking about!"_

A sudden thought sprang up in his mind as he examined the weapon, and he looked back at Oki who was staring into the fire again. "How good are you with that sword of yours?"

Oki looked back at him, with that same impassive stare from his mask, and said, "Well, not to brag, but I'm one of the best fighters in my village."

"Think you could train me then?"

Even though it was impossible to see Oki's face through the mask, Alex could tell that his frank question had caught the man slightly off guard by the way he straightened up in surprise. "Train you?" Oki said incredulously.

Composing himself, the masked man continued. "I suppose I could…but the way of the sword requires lots of work and a certain dedication to seeing that work through. Not all men are up to the task. The question is, are you?"

"We won't know until we try, right?" Alex stated.

Oki paused, pondering the young man, before slowly nodding. "Very well then. We can at least try to beat some sense into that head of yours. But you must be willing to do whatever I tell you, no matter how odd or foolish it may seem. If you possess the dedication and willingness to learn the way of the sword, then we can progress from there."

Standing up, the man turned and walked off into the forest, being quickly swallowed up by the night.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Alex called after him. The only thing he heard in return was the sound of a sword being drawn and used to hack away at something in the brush.

After a minute, Oki returned to the campsite, bearing two long sticks in hand, stripped of all their twigs and leaves. Both were generally the same size as a sword, and Alex immediately caught on, standing up in turn and catching the stick that Oki tossed to him.

"First, we find your stance," Oki began. "In sword-fighting, stance is _everything_. It allows you to maintain your balance, both physically and mentally, so that your opponent does not immediately find a weak point to exploit. It also serves as a form of minor intimidation, a reminder to you opponent that he is not facing a mere novice in battle."

Alex nodded, making enough sense of it, and took the stick in two hands, holding it out in front of him in a classic dueling pose.

"Wrong," Oki said immediately. "You're putting too much weight on your front leg, and your sword isn't held high enough. Try it like this." Bringing his stick around to hold it up with both hands, he positioned it perpendicularly next to his head and at eye level, keeping the end of it pointed towards Alex.

Alex copied the motion, and Oki nodded. "A little better…holding the sword like that seems to help counterbalance the weight you like placing on your front leg. But you're also standing a little loosely. Tighten up, and bring the sword point up a bit."

Alex did so, and Oki nodded again. "That's more like it. Now practice moving around."

Oki and Alex began circling each other around the fire, continuing to hold their stances.

"Stop shuffling so much," Oki said. "Move your feet more deliberately."

"_Whatever you say, oh mighty sensei,"_ Alex thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

They continued to circle each other as time dragged on, Oki giving Alex the occasional pointer, and the young man quickly felt his arms and legs getting tired from holding the stance for so long. Still, he fought to maintain his balance and avoid tripping on the uneven ground. Eventually, Oki lowered his weapon and motioned for Alex to do the same, who let off a sigh of relief as he stretched his limbs.

"Alright. Now that we have your stance, it's time to see how fast you are. Block these next attacks if you can."

(_Okami OST – Blockhead_)

Oki took his weapon in one hand and made a half-hearted swing at chest level, and Alex easily blocked it, feeling the vibration as the sticks collided. Oki quickly shifted, bringing it up and over, and Alex compensated, raising the sword up one-handed and blocking it as well, but feeling his weapon dip a bit under the weight of the hit.

"Don't be afraid to use both hands when blocking high attacks," Oki stated. "Remember, you're trying to keep your opponent from cleaving your skull in half."

"_I'll keep that in mind…"_ Alex thought, before Oki said, "Faster now!"

The attack came in a set of three, from the left, right, and below. Alex blocked the attacks again, still comfortable with the speed.

"Faster!"

Up, down, right, left. The attacks came faster and faster, Alex starting to lag behind as the speed of Oki's strikes began to increase.

"Keep going! See how many you can block!"

Faster and faster it went, the sharp _cracks_ of the colliding sticks resounding through the clearing as Oki continued to hammer down strikes on Alex, who barely managed to keep up with him. But to his credit, he managed to block quite a few of Oki's attacks.

But of course, being a novice to the way of the sword, Alex eventually slipped up, and Oki's stick came down on his hand, crushing his fingers. Yelping in pain, Alex dropped the stick as he grabbed his bruised digits, but Oki wasn't finished yet. The sting in his hand was quickly replaced by a burning pain as Oki swung low and smacked his shin, causing Alex to drop to the ground as his leg gave out from under him.

"_Ow!"_ he shouted, grabbing at his bruised limb. "What the hell was that for? !"

"In a fight, you never drop your weapon for _any_ reason, unless you have a death wish," Oki replied. "That, and you clearly need to toughen up. Each time you fail a lesson, you're getting hit where your defenses have dropped, and I don't care if you're covered in bandages. I'll still hit you where they aren't."

"_Oh great…"_ Alex groaned inwardly, as he pulled himself back to his feet. _"What have I gotten myself into now?"_

They continued to train late into the night, Alex blocking Oki's various attacks as the masked man informed him of the many techniques and maneuvers that went into sword-fighting. Alex tried to keep up with the lessons, even as he continued to receive multiple and painful blows to the body along the way, as his arms and legs burned from the intense exertion he was putting on them.

When they finally decided to stop for the night, Alex's entire body burned from the painful welts he had acquired and the exhaustion in every one of his muscles. His training sword was in equally bad condition, covered in dents where Oki had struck it and pieces of the bark having fallen off. In his frustration, he made to throw it back into the forest, but Oki stopped him.

"Hold onto it," the man said. "Those take time to make, and you'll need it for future lessons."

Sighing, Alex set it down and rubbed a particularly nasty welt on his shoulder where Oki had struck him when he had tripped over the uneven ground and thrown out his sword arm to catch himself, letting down his guard. The only reason he wasn't complaining at that moment was because he knew that there would be plenty more to come, and sooner or later, he'd have to just suck it up.

"So, what? Bedtime then?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Who gets the bedroll then?"

"You do."

"What about you?"

"I'll manage."

"How?"

Oki said nothing, simply walking over to the fire as Alex watched. Suddenly crouching down, Oki jumped high into the air, pulling into a perfect front flip, and Alex suddenly felt a blast of ice cold air against him, forcing him to squint and look away as his eyes suddenly dried out.

Blinking a few times to remoisten them, he looked back and saw, standing in Oki's place, the same large wolf that had saved him that night. Now lit up by the campfire, Alex could see the wolf's dark blue fur with a blood-red streak running across its back, the wolf mask situated on top of its head and well out of the way of its intelligent eyes and large muzzle filled with razor sharp teeth.

"_Wow…"_ Alex breathed, as the newly transformed wolf-Oki circled in place for a few seconds before flopping down in front of the fire. _"I don't even know if that's cool, or scary."_

Watching wolf-Oki for a few more moments, Alex decided to give him a wide berth and walked over to the bedroll, wincing as he lay down. _"I'm going to be feeling THIS tomorrow, that's for sure,"_ he thought, as he closed his eyes, Oki's teachings still bouncing around in his head.

* * *

><p>Crouching low and pushing the white flowers out of his way, Tao Master Waka searched the grove for clues, clutching a small lantern in his hand and waving it over the area he was searching. Normally, he could see with the moon's light alone, but as he was searching for potentially miniscule details among the small field of flowers, he needed better light, and the lantern was his best option as of now. But even with the light, he still could find no traces of the mystery man that Amaterasu had seen in her vision…not even a footprint or a scrap of cloth.<p>

But he was certain that this was where the man had made his appearance. Every single one of his Tao Troopers' instruments had pointed to this location, where the disturbance had originated from. The small device he had carried with him to track the residual energy of the disturbance had gone crazy the moment he had stepped into the grove, and he had been forced to shut it off to keep himself from going mad from the noise.

Standing up, he rubbed his chin and wondered where he could possibly search to find a clue, _something_ that would give him an indication as to where the mystery man had gone.

"Master Waka?" a voice spoke up behind him, and he turned to regard the ornately clothed Tao Trooper behind him, carrying a spear and wearing a gold-colored mask that covered his eyes. "It is getting late…perhaps we should head back to camp and wait for morning?"

He continued to stare at the trooper, who suddenly began to sweat profusely. "Err…that is…I mean, unless you wish to continue searching, Master Waka!" he stuttered.

"If you wish to rest, then you may go back to the camp," Waka said. "I will continue searching."

"Y-yes, Master Waka. Thank you!" the trooper blurted out, turning and heading from the grove at a rapid pace.

Waka turned away from the man, and went back to scanning over the field of flowers and pondering what his next action should be. He could deploy his troopers and have them search the nearby towns for any man wearing strange clothes, but that would take far too long, and there was always the potential for mistakes that his troopers would make. So what did he do?

As if to answer his question, he suddenly heard voices and the sound of leaves rustling as something in the forest made its way towards the grove. Thinking quickly, he dropped down into the knee-high flowers and drew his flute, preparing to call upon its power if whatever was coming became a threat. Remaining perfectly silent, he watched and waited as the voices grew closer.

"Honestly, Miyu, do you really think he was telling the truth?" a male voice said.

"Yes, Ren, I do. Like I said, I could see it in his eyes," a female voice answered.

"Sometimes, I think you are far too trusting of strangers."

"And you don't trust others enough! I still remember that imp you ate!"

"He was a threat to our children, Miyu!"

"He was also _excellent _conversation, and I doubt that a single imp would be a problem for them."

"Yes, but…wait! I think that might be it up ahead!"

Waka watched as a pair of large kitsune walked into the grove, seven tails to each of them, with five of them each holding a young sleeping fox, obviously their children.

"Oh my…" the female one, Miyu, said, looking around at the moonlit grove, lined with cherry trees and a bed of white flowers swaying gently in the wind. "This is beautiful! You see, Ren? He _was_ telling the truth!"

"That he was…" the male one, Ren, said. "It seems I must concede this one to you, my darling."

"Oh Ren," she giggled. "You were only thinking about our family. Speaking of which, you can let them down now."

"Very well. Oh children!" he said, shaking his tails gently to wake them. "We're here!"

After being let go, the young kitsune forgot their sleepiness and scattered across the grove to explore all of its nooks and crannies.

Waka quickly realized that he was in danger of being spotted, but as the kitsune didn't appear to be a major threat so far, he decided to just make things easier for them all and slowly stood up so as not to startle any of them.

"Hey, mom! Dad! Look!" one of the young foxes called out, and every eye in the grove turned to him.

"_Bonjour, mes amis!"_ he said, bowing deeply. "I apologize for the interruption, but I was wondering if you could help me with a slight dilemma of mine."

"That depends…what do you need help with?" Ren asked suspiciously.

"I am looking for a particular man who passed through here recently. You see, I have something important to him that he left with me, and I wish to return it to him."

"We have seen lots of humans during our time…you will have to be more specific."

"He would be wearing strange clothing, unlike any style you would have seen before, perhaps?"

"Oh!" Miyu piped up. "You mean Alex! Such a nice young man, he was. Did you know he helped us find this grove?"

"Miyu…" Ren said, but she ignored him.

Waka barely held back his smile. Finally, he was getting somewhere. "Do you know where he is now?" he asked.

"He asked where the closest town was, so I directed him to Kamiki Village," she said. "He seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere…poor man. He was extremely flustered when he met us, and I fear that he might have been on the verge of a mental breakdown, though he disguised it remarkably well."

"_Miyu!"_ Ren said more loudly, and she turned to look at him as if to say "_What?"_

"_Merci, mes amis!"_ Waka said. "That is all the information I need! Thank you for your help!"

"Um…of course," Ren said, watching as Waka turned and briskly walked out of the grove. "…odd man," he muttered. Turning to Miyu, he said, "Dear, you really shouldn't have told him all of that. What if he was intending to do harm to Alex?"

"Oh Ren, you worry too much," Miyu replied. "He seemed nice enough, and why would someone want to hurt a nice man like Alex?"

"I don't know, but why do you think he was so flustered in the first place? !"

"Well, I thought…"

Waka tuned out their bickering as he walked back to the campsite, the Tao Trooper stoking the fire before spotting him and standing at attention.

"Trooper, take a message," Waka commanded.

"Yes, Master Waka!" the trooper said, reaching into his pack to pull out a brush, some ink, and a length of paper.

"I have picked up the trail and am now heading for Kamiki Village. Meet me there. Yours truly, Waka," the Tao Master recited, the trooper scribbling furiously. When he was done, he blew on the ink to dry it and then folded up the paper, stuffing it into his pocket. "Who shall I deliver this to, Master Waka?" he asked.

"To Amaterasu, who I imagine is somewhere near the boarders of Kamui right about now."

"Er…yes, Master Waka…but, how exactly am I to find her?" the man asked uncomfortably.

Waka reached into a deep pocket of his pants, pulling out a small satchel and handing it to the trooper. "Everything you will need is in there. Destroy it as soon as you find her, or if you run into any danger whatsoever."

Opening the satchel and looking inside, the man's face suddenly brightened in realization. "Yes, Master Waka! I shall not fail!" the man said triumphantly, bowing deeply before running off into the forest with all due haste.

"_You have proven to be quite the difficult man to follow, Alex,"_ Waka thought as he watched the man depart._ "I wonder…what surprises will you hold when we finally meet face to face?"_

Turning on his heel, Waka dove into the forest, heading for Taka Pass…and beyond it, Kamiki Village.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, there's a little bit of action for ya...if you squint...and find training to be "action-y".<strong>

**Anyways, rate and review if ya want, and I'll see you next time! (Whenever THAT is...)**


	8. Oki's School of Hard Knocks

**Hooray! Proof that I'm not dead!**

**Sorry this took so dang long to get in...college orientation took a bit of getting used to. But at least I'm back, and ready to get going again!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Oki's School of Hard Knocks<strong>

Wolf-Oki trotted through the bushes, coming up onto a rise and stopping to sniff the air, cocking his head as he listened for the tell-tale sound of running water. Seemingly satisfied with what he heard, he turned around and barked out, "Keep up, Alex! The river is nearby!"

Crashing loudly through the bushes, Alex, who was carrying a large pack, stopped with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "Remind me…again…why I'm carrying…the load!" he demanded between gasps.

"To build stamina, for reasons I'm sure you are already aware of," Wolf-Oki growled. "Now come! You can rest by the river when we arrive!"

"_If I don't have a heart attack first…"_ Alex thought, taking a deep breath and heaving himself along. "We're headed for Kamiki at least, right?"

"Yes, but it's still a four day journey from here. Plenty of time for you to build your strength."

"_Four days? !" _Alex groaned inwardly._ "Son of a…pretty convenient that Miyu forgot _that_ little detail!"_

Their journey progressed as slowly as Alex did, his steps plodding in the dirt as the pack he carried grew heavier and heavier over the day. More and more, Oki found himself having to stop and wait as the increasingly exhausted man caught up, stumbling, panting, and swearing between gasps the whole time. Alex would usually mutter a quick thanks, before Oki continued the relentless pace without a word, forcing the man to start walking again and resume his string of curses.

When they made camp for the night, it was the same as last time: they took out their training swords and sparred by the light of the campfire. As they fought, Alex decided to question Oki on exactly who the celestials he had mentioned the other night were.

"Well, no one _really_ knows everything about the celestials…most of the time, all people know about them are that their name is derived from the name of their home: the Celestial Plain," Oki said, their training sticks making a loud _crack_ as they connected.

"I'm guessing that place is a big deal?" Alex asked.

_Crack._

"Of course," Oki replied. "It's also where the Brush Gods live. They are the ones who watch over all of Nippon, passing their judgment and occasionally offering their wisdom to help guide us mortals."

_Crack._

"So, they're your deities then?"

_Crack._

"In a way, yes."

_Crack._

"You seem to know a lot about them, unlike other people as you said," Alex said. "How'd you find out so much?"

_Whack!_

Alex's defenses slipped, and he took a stinging hit to the upper shoulder, causing him to bite back a pained gasp as he gritted his teeth and grasped it with his free hand, forgetting his question in the process.

After receiving an entirely new set of welts and bruises (and ending with his pride at an all-time low), Alex flopped down by the fire, cursing under his breath and shooting a glare at the masked man who was the source of all his current pain and exhaustion. Oki remained unfazed, whistling as he went about preparing their dinner of freshly caught venison, the wolf-like teeth marks in its neck still painfully apparent as he carved out cuts of meat with his hunting knife and placed them on a heated stone to cook.

"So, what are you doing all the way out here anyways?" Alex asked as the meat slowly sizzled.

"What do you mean?" Oki replied.

"Well, you said you were from the north, from someplace you called 'Kamui'. So what's a northerner like you doing in a place like this, which is clearly _not_ north?"

Oki paused for a moment in mid-cut, then slowly resumed without saying a word.

"Well?" came the impatient prodding.

More silence, and then…"I'm…looking for someone," Oki said slowly.

"Who?"

The masked man continued to carve without saying anything further, but increased his pace and clearly showed that he wasn't going to answer any more questions.

"_Fine, keep your damn secrets for all I care!"_ Alex thought, his anger flaring up again as he shook his head in frustration.

The second day continued in much the same fashion, their going improved a small bit as the land began to even out in elevation, the rough uneven dirt and heavy brush slowly being replaced by smooth grass and more frequent clearings. Even the trees seemed to be thinning, as Alex realized that they were _finally_ close to getting out of the massive forest that he had appeared in.

"We're nearing the edge of Taka Pass," Oki remarked. "Soon, we'll find the dirt road that leads through it, and from there, it's a straight shot through Agata Forest to Shinshu Fields…and Kamiki just beyond."

"Good. I'm getting sick of all these trees," Alex muttered, still fuming over their most recent training session and Oki's stubborn silence every time the masked man became the subject of the conversation.

Their training that evening went somewhat better than last night's, as Alex managed to keep up with a significant amount of Oki's attacks. It was apparent to both men that his reflexes were beginning to improve as he grew accustomed to the weight of the wooden stick in his hands, much like a trained warrior gained proficiency in his preferred weapon. After a particularly fierce flurry of attacks, of which Alex had barely managed to block each one, Oki lowered his weapon and nodded.

"Good, you're finally improving it seems," the Oina man said. "Perhaps there is hope for you after all."

"Awesome…" came the sarcastic reply. "Can we ease up a little then?"

"Not in the least," came the expected answer. "Now we see if you can not only protect yourself from attack, but launch your own as well."

"And let me guess…you're gonna keep on beating my ass if I screw up?"

"You said it, not me…," Oki said, raising his stick up to fighting position. "Now, fight me!"

"_Alright, payback time!"_ Alex thought, as he lifted his own weapon, grinning evilly as he pictured Oki's mask all dented up with its nose knocked askew from the beating he was about to recieve.

Lunging forward, Alex attacked from below, swinging his stick like a golf club. Oki blocked it almost casually with one hand, bringing the other to his mask's mouth in a bored yawn.

Feeling the angry heat rise up in his face again from the masked man mocking him, Alex spun around and swung from the side, but his attack was foiled again as Oki seemed to block it without even trying. "Surely you can hit harder than _that?_" came the sneering reply.

Now feeling _really_ angry, Alex raised his sword up high and chopped down with all his force…and hit nothing but air, Oki having quickly sidestepped.

"Hold still, dammit!" Alex shouted as he continued to swing, trying desperately to hit Oki at least once before his arms gave out from the exertion.

"As you wish," came the reply, Oki stopping his dodges and choosing instead to make an elaborate parry, his stick spinning around Alex's and knocking the weapon from the surprised man's grip.

Alex's surprise only grew greater when Oki's swung low in retaliation, catching him right between the legs. Doubling over, Alex was unable to protect himself as Oki's weapon came down across his back with a heavy _whack_, causing him to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Oki simply stood there and watched as Alex writhed around in pain, holding himself as he caught his breath and slowly began to climb back to his feet, still bent over as he fought the urge to vomit again.

"If you are quite finished…" Oki began, Alex looking up at him with a look of pure rage on his face, "…then retrieve your weapon."

"You…you know what?" Alex growled at him between gasps.

"What?"

"_SCREW YOU!"_ Alex bellowed, scaring the birds away again. _"I've had with you beating my ass sideways and making me your pack mule for the last three damn days!"_

"It's called training, Alex," Oki replied, completely unfazed by the outburst.

"_I don't give a rat's ass!" _Alex retaliated, walking up to poke Oki hard in the chest. "Screw you, screw your damn 'training', and screw every other damn thing in this goddamn forest! I'M DONE!" Picking up his stick, he threw it into the fire in a singular act of defiance and stormed off in the direction of the pass to sulk.

There was another loud _WHACK_, and Alex suddenly felt himself pitch forward and literally eat dirt as he faceplanted into the ground.

"The most important rule: _Never turn your back on an enemy!"_ Oki shouted at his prone figure, sounding somewhat angry himself. "Have you learned _nothing_ over these past three days? ! Have you even been _listening_? !"

Alex continued to lie there, perfectly still and unmoving…and Oki wondered for the briefest of moments if he had pushed the young man too far.

But slowly…ever so slowly…Alex brought his arms around and pushed himself up, every movement slow and precise as he got back to his feet, his back still turned to Oki. There he remained, his head hanging down as the man looked at the ground that he had been laying on.

There, spread out on the ground before him, were the shattered remains of the glass orb he had been carrying, fragments leaking out of his sweater pocket like blood from an open wound.

Alex stood there, just watching for a minute, before slowly turned around.

(_Inuyasha OST – Fierce Battle_)

Oki could see the vein bulging out of the side of his head…and the tongues of flame that were burning in his eyes.

Suddenly dashing forward, Alex scooped his katana off the ground and drew it with a single fluid motion, tossing the sheath aside as the fury and adrenaline-crazed man let out a bellowing war cry unlike any Oki had heard before. Even the sword itself seemed to respond to Alex's fury, suddenly glowing a bright blue as it caught the moonlight filtering in through the trees.

Charging headlong at the Oina man, Alex swung the lethal weapon with all his might, leaving a trail of fiery blue light in its wake as it seemed to slice through the darkness itself. Oki held his stick out in a desperate act of self-defense, leaning back as far as he could, and the katana cut through the air only an inch away from the nose of his mask. The stick he wielded was sliced cleanly in half, the two pieces falling to the ground as he reflexively dropped them and stepped back, quickly drawing his broadsword…just in time to block another attack from Alex, the two swords ringing loudly as sparks flew between them.

The whole time, Oki remained dumbfounded. Why was the man reacting so strongly to the orb's destruction?

Alex, still on the offensive, shoved Oki off with a strength that the Oina man had never thought possible in such an untrained fighter. It was as though Alex's fury had suddenly given him the strength and skill of nearly several months' worth of solid training in a matter of seconds, as he rained down a punishing series of blows on his opponent's defenses. Oki resisted his instinct to fight back with full strength himself, knowing that if he did, one of them could end up dead before the night was up.

So, he opted for the only other option he had: leaping backwards, he brought his leg back and kicked at the fire nearby, scattering embers into the air and forcing Alex to shield his face.

Oki took advantage of the brief opening to transform into his wolf half, the large broadsword slung across his back. Dashing forward, Oki drew his broadsword and clenched it in his teeth, using it to deflect Alex's retaliatory swing as he whipped past the man with incredible speed. Alex immediately turned to attack the wolf again, but Oki had already dodged aside, his bestial speed granting him an advantage that the furious man couldn't hope to match. Again and again, Alex tried to keep up with Oki, even as the wolf ran circles around him at dizzyingly fast speeds, but was either unable to land a hit or had his strike deflected by the sword held in the wolf's jaws.

Eventually, Oki could see Alex beginning to tire, his once strong attacks becoming lackluster as his burst of rage began playing itself out. The katana dipped low to the ground, and seeing his chance, Oki sheathed his sword and skidded to a stop on his paws, suddenly changing direction and charging right for the man, who barely had time to lift his weapon back up before the wolf rammed into him at top speed.

In an instant, Alex found himself on his back, his sword lying out of reach…and Oki standing on top of him, the large wolf's teeth around his neck in a submission hold as his weight crushed the air from his lungs.

Biting down hard enough to draw some blood, but not hard enough to strangle the man, Oki kept his opponent pinned down as Alex's heavy breathing began to slow, the man holding his hands up in surrender and swallowing hard as he slowly began to realize what situation he was in.

After several minutes, Oki asked him in a muffled voice, "Feeling alright?"

"Y-Yeah…" Alex slowly responded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good…I'm going to let you up then. Nothing sudden, now."

"…Right."

Oki relinquished his grip on Alex's throat and slowly stepped off, the man coming up into a sitting position as he rubbed at the bloody teeth marks that the wolf had left.

Sitting down on his haunches, Wolf-Oki stared at him, taking note of the strangely deflated look Alex had taken on. It was a look he had seen before…the look of a man whose pride and spirit had been utterly crushed.

"Why did you attack me like that?" the wolf asked after a moment. "I can understand if you were angry over tonight's events, but…it was just a ball of glass."

"It wasn't just a ball of glass…" Alex replied, his voice barely above a whisper and his eyes refusing to meet Oki's. "It was the whole reason why I'm here in the first place."

Oki still didn't understand, but he could definitely tell that something was eating at the man, who slowly got up and limped over to where the glass shards were still spread across the ground, gathering them up in his hands gently enough so that he didn't cut himself.

There was a soft _thump_ beside him, and Alex looked over to see a small empty leather sack with a cinch in it lying next to him, having been placed there by the now-human Oki, who was standing next to him.

"I'm sorry if that orb was important to you. If you don't want to continue training…" the Oina man offered, but Alex shook his head.

"It's…it's alright," he said, placing the glass shards in the bag. "I'll feel better about this in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"…Positive."

Tying the sack's string to one of the loops in his pants, Alex walked back to the campfire and sat down, staring into the flames. Oki eventually joined him, sitting down across the fire from him.

"It's just…" Alex whispered, to no one in particular. "…I miss my home. I was just living my life, just like any other normal person, in a place that I was comfortable and sure of what was going on…and then I found it…the orb…it brought me here…and the whole reason I've been holding onto it is because I figured that if it brought me here, then I could find a way to make it take me back home."

Alex shook the bag lightly, the glass shards inside tinkling about.

"Well…fat chance of that happening now," he finished.

"Alex, I…" Oki began, but the man waved him off again.

"Don't apologize. You had no idea, because you don't know where the hell I'm from…because I just don't belong here. I'm too different."

"That isn't true," Oki said. "Sooner or later, and regardless of our differences, we all find our place in life…especially people like you."

Alex looked up at him, confused, and Oki continued. "I saw the fire in your eyes when you attacked me…the kind of fire that only a person with the spirit of a true warrior possesses. You may not think so yourself, but you have the makings of a real fighter in you. You will find a place here, or you will find another way back home. One way or the other, I can tell that you have what it takes to succeed."

Standing up, Oki moved off to the edge of that campsite, stopping and looking back at Alex. "You have the will and determination, that much is certain…but you still lack the skill and refinement. As I said before, I won't force you to continue training. But if you still wish to find the end of whatever road you take, then I can give you the tools to survive that journey...no matter what."

Oki walked off, and Alex, still sitting by the fire, watched him ascend a nearby rise and simply stand there, watching the moon slowly trail across the sky, his mask illuminated by its haunting glow.

"_What do I do?"_ Alex thought after a while. _"I can't just give up on trying to find a way back home…but I don't know where to start looking for another one. Without the orb, I'm basically just wandering now, with no idea where to go next."_

Letting off a deep sigh, he thought, _"Well…as much as I hate the idea of getting my ass beat even more than it already is…Oki's my best shot at finding a way out of this crazy fox, wolf, and demon infested world I'm in, even if he's the hardest teacher I've ever had. There's no way I can keep going at it alone, not by a long shot."_

Alex stood up, retrieved his sword and sheath, and hiked over to where the Oina man was standing, Oki turning his head slightly to acknowledge his presence.

"I might not know how this crazy world of yours works…" Alex began, "But…the way I figure it, you're my best chance at learning how it does. I'm tired of wandering around like a chicken with its head cut off. I'm going to take my knocks, suck it up, and keep going. And you're going to help me."

Oki raised an eyebrow at his assertive tone, as Alex saw through the eyehole of his mask, but the man eventually nodded. "Well then…now that you've obviously moved beyond training swords, I think it's time for the _real_ training to begin."

Drawing his broadsword, Oki motioned for Alex to do the same. Nodding, Alex drew his own weapon, still glowing as the moonlight struck it.

"Why does your sword do that?" Oki asked, settling into a fighting stance.

"I have _no_ idea…" Alex answered. "It just does it whenever I draw it at night."

"Then perhaps the answers will reveal themselves with time."

"I hear that," Alex agreed. "I've been looking for answers since I got here." Assuming his own fighting stance, Alex lunged at Oki, the ringing of their swords echoing into the night as they fought beneath the pure light of the moon.

…followed by an "Ouch!" as Alex took a hit from the flat part of Oki's blade.

* * *

><p>"So that's why you're here? Because some random guy is stirring up the house upstairs?"<p>

"_Yes."_

"Wow…what makes _him_ so special?"

"_We don't know yet."_

"Which is why you're here?"

"_Yes, Issun!"_ Amaterasu barked irritably.

"Ok, Ok! Sheesh, take it easy!"

They had been taking it slow during their journey out of the mountains of Kamui in order to catch up, so as a result, it had taken them several day to make their way towards the border between the frozen Northland and central Nippon. They were still a good ways up in elevation, so the air still held a slight chill as they walked, forcing Issun to snuggle down in Amaterasu's fur and wait for the air to warm up. During that time, they spent equal amounts of time in both silence and conversation, with the latter being mostly just Issun blathering on and, more importantly, informing Ammy of the recent events that had transpired on Nippon during her absence.

As Issun continued to yakkity-yak in the background, Ammy tuned him out and fell into her own thoughts as she trotted down the path. _"How could the demons still be around? They obviously haven't gathered in great enough numbers to cause a major threat to the mortals yet, or we would have noticed back up on the Plain,"_ she thought, thinking about her fellow Brush Gods who were probably checking in on her progress now and then from their safe stronghold in the sky.

She remembered the "war" slightly over a year ago, when Orochi had made his return. The Brush Gods had nearly been exterminated in that time, the combination of spreading evil and a loss of faith from the mortals proving to be devastating to their well-being. It had fallen to Ammy to restore their power and the faith in them, so that she could gain the use of their brush techniques and eventually vanquish the evil in Nippon.

But she still shuddered at the thought of what could have happened, had she reincarnated too late.

"Hey, Furball!" Issun suddenly said, shaking her out of her thoughts. "Hellllllooooo! Nippon to Furball!" he said, knocking on her foreheard. "Anyone in there?"

"_Yes, Issun, what is it now?"_ she sighed.

"I told you, there's something coming our way! Listen up!"

She cocked her head towards the forest, and indeed, something _did_ sound like it was coming towards them. Well, she decided, if the demons had found out about her presence and wanted a fight, they were certainly going to get one. Crouching down, and letting a slight growl slip from her throat, she waited for whatever was coming to show itself.

Still, prepared as she was, the last thing she expected was an elaborately dressed man, wearing a gold mask over his eyes. In one hand he carried a spear, and in the other, a strange device that was pulsing frantically as it pointed straight at Amaterasu.

"Ah!" the man exclaimed upon seeing them. Bowing low, he said, "My greetings, O great Amaterasu!"

"Oh great…" Issun muttered. "One of the half-baked prophet's lackeys. Why anyone would want to follow that wacko around is beyond me."

Either the Tao Trooper didn't hear him, or he ignored him, but he said nothing in return. Instead, he took the device he had been carrying, still pulsing and pointing at Amaterasu, and threw it to the ground, stabbing at it several times with his spear and breaking it into pieces.

"Whoa, easy pal! Was it something I said?" Issun exclaimed.

"No, master poncle. I was under orders to destroy that Canine Tracker the moment I found you. The Master wishes to apologize for its unwarranted usage. He also wished for you to receive this message," he added, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a slip of paper.

"A message…from 'The Master'…?" Issun wondered aloud, slowly putting two and two together. "Oh no…_gimme that paper!_" he yelled suddenly, jumping forward and snatching it from the man.

Bouncing back to Ammy's head, he unfurled it in front of her face so they could both read it. "I have picked up the trail…yadda yadda…Kamiki Village…yadda yadda…Your's truly…"

Issun stopped, frowning, and read the last few words several times over.

Ammy could see the paper shaking as Issun tightened his grip on it.

"Furball…" he said slowly, "…you wouldn't have happened to bring _him_ along now, would you?"

Silence.

"Furball?" Issun said again, his voice several octaves higher. "Tell me you didn't bring him."

More silence, and then, _"Um…yes?"_ she answered casually.

"Ah…that's what I thought…" Issun said, his voice sounding somewhat shaky. Dropping the paper, he said, "Excuse me a moment," before hopping off of Ammy's head and into the forest.

There was a few seconds of silence as Ammy and the Tao trooper looked at each other inquisitively before looking back to where the poncle had gone.

Suddenly, a loud _"ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"_ echoed through the forest, followed by repeated and dull sounding _thunks,_ as Ammy realized with a bit of concern that Issun was hitting his head against a tree trunk, and rather hard too, considering that she could actually hear it from where she stood.

"_Of all the people she had to bring…!" _they heard him shout.

_Thunk!_

"_It just HAD to be him!"_

_Thunk!_

"_STUPID…"_

_Thunk!_

"_NO-GOOD…"_

_Thunk!_

"_LAZY…"_

_Thunk!_

"_HALF-BAKED PROPHET!"_

_Thunk, thunk, THUNK!_

They waited several moments, and eventually, a very tired looking Issun came walking out of the forest, holding his severely bruised forehead and dragging his somewhat dented beetle-shell helmet behind him.

He tried to hop back on to Ammy's head, but missed several times due to his bout of dizziness. He eventually decided to rest against her front paw as he waited for the stars to clear from his vision.

"Is he going to be alright?" the trooper asked.

"_Don't worry," _Amaterasu replied. _"He's very thick-skulled."_

"Very well. I will take my leave then. Farewell, Great Amaterasu!" he said, turning and disappearing back into the trees.

Issun chose that moment to let out a groan, as he stood up shakily and used Amaterasu's leg for support. "Oh, my aching head…stupid prophet!"

Ammy simply shook her head and picked up the poncle in her mouth, tossing him up a short way's into the air where he landed on her head again. After making sure he was secure, she took off at a run down the path, leaving a line of fully bloomed flowers in her wake that were gone almost as soon as they appeared.

Kamiki village was where it had all began for her, and where it seemed things would begin again. All that remained to be seen was the events that would eventually transpire.

* * *

><p>"You want me to do <em>what<em>?"

"Simple…jump up to that ledge there."

Oki and Alex were standing next to one of the great earthen walls that formed the boundry of what was known as Taka Pass, a large open canyon that Oki had explained led to Agata forest, which was apparently much smaller than the forest they had left behind several hours ago. When they had stopped for a rest, sometime in the late morning, Oki had motioned for Alex to follow him and had led the man over to one of the walls.

And now, he was telling him to jump upwards, to a ledge jutting out of the wall that was easily twenty feet up and therefore _way_ out of reach.

"There is _no way_ I can jump that high."

"Yes, you can," Oki stated matter-of-factly. "Would you like a demonstration, perhaps?"

"By all means…_enlighten me_," Alex said sarcastically.

Oki suddenly brought his hands together, forming some kind of odd symbol with his fingers, so quickly that to Alex, it looked like he had simply punched his fist into the palm of his other hand. Crouching down, the Oina man leapt high into the air, far higher than any man should normally be able to jump, and landed against the wall, pushing off and flying up the rest of the way in an elaborate wall jump before landing softly on the grassy ledge above.

"Satisfied?" he called down, to Alex's flabbergasted expression.

Leaping down, he hit the grassy ground with a _thump_ next to Alex and brushed himself off. "Clearly, you can't do it just with the power of your own two legs," he said. "To make leaps like that, you need to focus your _ki_."

"My ki? Wait…isn't that, like, my life force or something?"

"Yes. Focusing your ki is a technique that only those with the spirit of a true warrior can accomplish…which is the only reason why I'm showing it to you in the first place. With it, you can accomplish things beyond what any normal person could do, but you must have the proper spirit to do so. Many others lack this spirit…but you may just have what it takes to learn it."

"Cool…" Alex remarked. "So, how does it work?"

"I'll show you. Place your hands together like this…" Oki began, pressing his right fist into the open palm of his left hand, "…and close your eyes."

Alex did so, and all he could see was the inside of his eyelids.

"Now…" he heard Oki's voice beside him. "Picture yourself, but with your skin transparent and see-through. Imagine seeing a warm glow suffusing your entire body, only visible through this transparent outer shell. Do you see it?"

"Yeah, I can. It's…a kind of blue light…it looks like fire," Alex replied, his eyes still closed.

"Good…" Oki said. "That is your _ki_, the life force within us all, different and unique for every person. By merely being able to picture it, you have already completed the first step. Now, imagine this fire draining out of your upper body, shifting down and coming to a rest in your legs and feet. They feel empowered with a kind of strength that you've never felt before; strong enough that you feel like you could kick down a wall with it."

Alex suddenly twitched a bit and knotted his eyebrows in what was apparently confusion, before twitching again.

"Something wrong?" Oki asked.

"Yeah…it's the damndest thing…I can't see to picture it happening for some reason."

"That's normal for beginners. You ki isn't used to being shifted around and is pushing back against your will. You need to exert your dominance, so use force if you have to!"

The muscles in Alex's body tensed up at Oki's words, right before a shuddering gasp went through him and he fell to the ground. The Oina man went to help him, but Alex pushed him off and forced himself back to his feet, his knees shaking violently as he struggled to stand.

"I…I think I did it," he said, breathing hard as his heart hammered in his chest.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…'cause my legs feel like they're about to explode!"

"Then what are you waiting for? !" Oki exclaimed. _"JUMP!"_

Alex dashed forward and pushed off the ground…and he felt himself catapult through the air, higher than he had even jumped before. He flew so high that his fingers barely managed to clear the ledge, and he grabbed hold, hanging on for dear life.

"_Whoa-ho-ho!"_ he thought, exhilaration coursing through him. _"That was friggin AWESOME! If only the guys could see me now!"_

He then remembered that he was hanging off of a ledge that was suspended twenty feet in the air, and struggled to climb the rest of the way up, to no avail.

After a few moments of thrashing about, Alex simply settled for hanging there and called out, "Uh…little help?"

Oki leapt up to him and stood their above him, staring down at the man. "Not bad for your first try, although next time, I would recommend leaping off of something to get to this high of a point."

"Duly noted…_now help me up!"_ Alex demanded, thrashing around angrily.

"Well, I was thinking that since you did so well your first time, maybe you could repeat your performance?" Oki said, a smug look in his eyes. "How about you practice focusing your ki into your arms now?"

"_Oh, I'll do that when I get my hands around your neck…"_ Alex thought, closing his eyes and forcing himself to concentrate.

After several more hours of playing around with his ki, Alex was officially done exerting himself for the day, feeling as tired as he would be after an entire day of hiking. "Don't worry," Oki had assured him. "Like the muscles in your body, your ki will become stronger and more vibrant with repeated use. And once you become skilled enough, you'll be able to call upon the powers of the technique with just a thought…useful if you find yourself leaping about in a fight with another true warrior."

"_Just like in Japanese anime..."_ Alex had thought in response, amusing himself with the thought of being locked in battle with a vicious opponent, the two of them clearing huge amounts of ground with just a few leaps and bounds and firing laser beams at each other with their hands.

* * *

><p>Once they were moving again, following the road through the winding canyon that was Taka pass, they soon came across an interesting sight: a large, flamboyant umbrella set up on the side of the road with a large, round man sitting beneath it, enjoying a small snack of what Alex realized was a rice ball wrapped in a piece of dried seaweed.<p>

"Ah, a merchant," Oki stated. "Perhaps he has something useful for us." Walking up to the man, who stopped eating long enough to smile warmly at him, Oki gave him a slight nod. "Hello, good merchant. How has business been lately?"

"Excellent, my good man from the north!" the merchant replied in a boisterous voice. "Since the monsters have all but disappeared, my business has been booming fantastically! Speaking of which…" he added, pulling over an enormous pack that made Oki's look like a day bag. "Would you like to do some business?"

"Of course," Oki said. "Would you happen to have any spare clothing for my friend here?" he asked, gesturing at Alex.

"Hmmm…oh my!" the merchant exclaimed, taking immediate notice of Alex's torn up sweater and mud-splattered blue jeans, both of which were covered in a thick layer of dust from the trail. "Yes, it seems that he indeed needs new clothing! Fortunately, I have just the thing…" he said, pushing his arm down deep into the pack and digging around for a moment…which turned into a minute as the merchant's face grew increasingly red.

"Eh, heh heh…" he said after a while. "Forgive me…it seems my abundance of wares has made me a tad disorganized." Turning the pack upside down, he simply lifted it up and shook it wildly, dumping out all of the merchandise inside. Watching the items flood from the pack, Alex spotted a variety of things from paper-wrapped food parcels, to dog bones, to even a few swords mixed in! "Ah, here we are!" the merchant eventually exclaimed, reaching into the massive pile to grab out some clothing.

Upon closer inspection, the outfit that the merchant laid out for him consisted of several separate pieces. It started with the "central" piece that was slate grey in color and looked like a light robe, starting with the "shirt" part and going down to eventually become a long "skirt" that would reach to his feet. The next piece was a dark blue overcoat that was worn over the grey robe, which hung down to his knees and opened in the front, simply hanging on his shoulders after his arms were in the sleeves. The outfit was completed with a simple sash that tied off the two pieces at the waist, followed by a white pair of stockings and a pair of flat wooden sandals for his feet.

"A men's kimono, freshly made and never worn before! These clothes are in excellent condition!" the merchant stated triumphantly.

Alex chewed on the inside of his cheek as he pondered the clothing. He knew that he could really use it, but he was hesitant at first to give up his old clothing, because of the fact that it was pretty much the only thing he had left that reminded him of his old home back in San Francisco. Giving them up would mean giving up his last real connection with the place he had come from.

However, one quick whiff of the stench under his armpits quickly changed his mind. _"Ugh…I guess it wouldn't hurt to get some new clothes…and a bath while I'm at it," _he thought, suppressing a gag.

After selecting several more items, Oki pulled out a small bag with variety of metal coins in it, ranging from the colors of dull green, to silver, and even gold. Alex figured that it was yen right away, without even looking too hard at it. With the severe Japanese setting of everything else he had seen, it was pretty much a given what type of money Oki was using.

Once the transaction was complete, Oki turned to Alex, carrying two small boxes made of woven bamboo, with several rice balls inside them. "Lunchtime," Oki stated. "Let's eat up."

Finding a nice outcropping of rocks to sit down by, Alex and Oki enjoyed their boxed meals in the sunlight, the former deciding to test out his new clothes once they were finished. Ducking behind the rocks, Alex fumbled his way out of his hideously dirty outfit, also taking the opportunity to take off the old bandages covering the wounds from his fall. The cuts and bruises underneath had healed nicely, much to his relief, and he tossed the old fabric that used to be his shirt next to his sweater and jeans that were laid out on the ground nearby.

"_Normally, I would say, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em,' but it doesn't quite seem to fit here," _he thought. _"Oh well…he goes."_

After a few minutes of struggling with the outfit, and engaging Oki in an argument after the Oina man began giving him pointers on how to properly don the outfit, Alex finally managed to get it right, and after slipping his sword on, came out from behind the rock, feeling weird as his legs brushed against the inside of the "skirt" portion of the main robe.

"Well, how do I look?" he asked Oki.

"Like a true citizen of Nippon," came the response. "They fit you very well."

"What should I do with these then?" Alex asked, gesturing at his old clothes.

"Dispose of them as you see fit, or keep them. Whatever you decide."

"_Well, they stink way too bad in order to keep them," _he thought. "_…guess I'll just throw them into the river and get it over with."_

"Uh…I'm gonna need a moment," he said, and Oki nodded in understanding.

Walking across the pass until he found a decent section of the river, deep and fast-flowing, he held his clothes up and looked at them one last time.

"_Well…I'm not much for goodbyes…" _he thought, before scowling and shaking his head. "_Oh hell, why am I even getting all mopey? ! They're just clothes!"_

Tossing them into the air, he watched as they fell into the river and were quickly swept away by the current, disappearing around a bend and out of sight.

"_There goes my last bit of identity from home…but at least I've still got my personality."_

Standing there for a minute, he slowly turned around to walk back to Oki…and stopped dead.

Right there in front of him was what looked like a long length of scroll, taller than he was. It was colored a deep, deep green and _floating _in the air all by itself. Orbiting around it were two evil-looking balls of flame of the same deep green color.

Across the way, Oki looked up at Alex, looked back down to his pack, and suddenly did a double-take as he realized what was facing the man.

"Wait, _Alex!"_ he shouted, breaking into a run. "DON'T TOUCH IT!"

He was too slow. Before Alex could react, the giant scroll emitted a noise akin to a muffled roar and lunged straight for him, wrapping around his body in a constrictor hold and both suddenly disappearing with a puff of smoke.

* * *

><p><strong>Long chapter here...took a while, cause I was working on it on and off for the past ten days -.-<strong>

**Anyways, rate and review if you want, and I'll see you next time!**


	9. Dangers of the Darkness

**Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter! This one's got some more juicy action in it, so hopefully you'll find this one worth the (exceedingly long -.-) wait!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Dangers of the Darkness<strong>

The world around him was immediately drowned in a flood of red, a wave of dark kanji symbols radiating out from the ground beneath him and forming a massive barrier of crackling energy that penned him in, leaving only a small circle-shaped area to move about in. However, all of this hardly mattered to him, as he fought to recover from the wave of vertigo he experienced from the shift.

"_What…what the hell?"_ he thought. _"What just happened? !"_ Looking around, he saw that the barrier keeping him here was completely clouded over, preventing him from seeing anything outside of it. Oki, the river, and the rest of Taka Pass had simply vanished behind it, save for the small patch of grass and dirt he was standing on, trapped in the circle with him and glowing with an angry red hue from the energy surrounding him.

Without warning, ripples of shadowy energy appeared in several spots on the ground in front of him, pushing upward into swirling vortexes and disappearing as quickly as they had come…leaving three of the same, green-clothed imps that he had seen that fateful night in front of him. Two of them carried what looked like thick bamboo bo-staffs, while the one in front, slightly bigger than the other two, wielded the same claw-blades that Alex had seen on the first two imps that had attacked him.

"_Shit…" _he thought, the same fear from that night rising up inside him again as he began to back away. _"I am SO dead, now."_

"Look what we've got here, fellas! One of those stupid humans, just like I told ya!" the big leader imp chattered, hopping about and brandishing its wicked claw blades. "Oh, we're gonna have a feast tonight, yes we are!"

"_Kee kee kee!" _ the other two chattered in agreement, drawing their staffs and falling into position beside their leader as the group began to advance on Alex, who continued backing up until his back connected with the energy wall behind him.

"_Oh my god…they're really gonna kill me this time!"_ he thought, as he began to panic._ "I'm trapped in here with them, and I can't get out!"_

His back pressed against the wall, Alex watched as the demons slowly came at him, hopping about with excitement and taunting him with their wild chattering as their weapons rose into attacking positions.

"_What do I do…WHAT DO I DO? !"_

_Fight!_

The single word reverberated through his mind, causing him to pause.

"_W-what?"_ he thought.

_FIGHT!_

The word came to him, forceful and insistent, etching itself into his consciousness.

Before he knew it, the sword had suddenly appeared in his hands, and the demons had stopped their advance, staring at the weapon curiously.

The leader imp began to laugh, hands on its knees as it chortled loudly. "Look, boys! The scared little human actually wants to fight back!" The other imps joined in, their chattering laughs echoing throughout the little arena they were in.

Straightening up, the leader crossed its arms and spat out, "Put that hunk of junk away before you hurt yourself, human! I like my meals finely sliced, not skewered on their own weapons!"

"_Steady, Alex…"_ the man thought. _"Remember Oki's training. The usual opening strike from an enemy is a forward rush…"_

"Still want to fight, huh?" the lead imp spat out. "Fine then! But this is gonna hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me!"

The large imp bolted forward, brandishing its claws as it leapt into the air, trying to cleave the lethal weapons down into the man's skull.

"…_followed by a high attack!"_

The claws came down…and sank into nothing but soft dirt.

"Wha…how the…?" the imp sputtered, looking around for the human and spotting him to his right, sword still held high in the parallel position by his head.

"Grrr!" the imp growled, yanking its claws out of the ground. "Hold still!"

"_Second strike…sideways swing at mid-level!"_

The imp swung at chest height, trying to get a quick hit in, and Alex jumped backwards out of reach, tripping over his robe a bit but still going far enough to protect himself.

"I said _hold still!"_ the imp yelled, running at him, lifting the points of his claws to aim them right at Alex's throat.

"_When they commit to a heavy strike…exploit it!"_

The imp struck, and Alex ducked, hearing the sound of cracking energy as the imp's claws collided with the barrier behind him. Momentarily stunned from the pain of finger-jamming itself, the imp completely forgot about keeping its guard up.

Alex had an opening, and he didn't waste it.

Knowing what was coming, he closed his eyes…and stabbed forward with his weapon, feeling a sudden resistance push against his hands as the sword bit into the imp's flesh.

Almost afraid of what he would see, Alex slowly cracked an eye open, and found himself staring straight into the scroll-face of the imp…and even though he couldn't read its face, he could somehow tell that it was shocked. The sword had sunk into its gut, all the way to the hilt, and black blood was leaking out of the wound, trailing down the sharp edge of the blade and dripping onto the ground between them.

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Shikku_)

Almost as an afterthought, Alex pushed the imp back with the sword, and used reverse momentum to rip the sword from its body, leaving the imp's body to stumble back a few steps before falling on its back in between its stunned comrades. Black blood continued to pour from the wound as the imp clutched at it, convulsing wildly as it let out a gurgling chatter.

"_Holy shit! I…I just…"_ Alex thought, completely stunned over what he had just done. _"I…I think I just killed him!"_

He didn't have the time to think about it though, because at that moment, his sword, now coated in the imp's black blood, began to light up with its bright bluish hue.

"_It's glowing again…"_ he realized. _"But why? It isn't night!"_

The other two imps began to chatter angrily, raising their bo-staffs and charging at the man who had killed their leader.

"_Ok, ok, two at once!"_ he quickly thought. _"Oh come on, what did Oki say about this…? ! Oh, right! Keep your eyes open, fight defensively, and wait for an opening!"_

One imp swung high, aiming for the man's temple, while the other swung at his ribcage, the two imps attacking in unison. Alex quickly, ducked under the high attack while using the flat of his blade to slap the other attack aside.

It was the damndest thing, he realized…but after doing almost nothing but training with Oki for nearly a full week, the imps' movements actually seemed _slow_ compared to the Oina man's…sluggish, even. Not only that, but Alex soon realized as well that Oki's opinion of the imps' fighting skill wasn't too far from the truth: as the fight dragged on, Alex began to notice that the imps were constantly leaving themselves open for attack, in ways that he himself had quickly learned not to do, thanks to Oki's repeated beatings.

Planning to exploit this, Alex blocked the attack of one imp and suddenly pushed forward, using his weight to shoulder-butt the imp back and send it stumbling away. Bringing his sword around, Alex slapped away the other imp's attack just in the nick of time, and having caught it alone, found the opening to lift his sword up and chop down mightily.

The imp raised its staff up in a two-handed block, but it couldn't stop the human's sword, which left streaks of blue light in the air as it came down on the imp's weapon.

But the attack didn't end there. Far from it, Alex realized. He had felt the resistance in his hands as he was forced to push the blade into the first imp he had killed. But now, he felt nothing of the sort, as the blade surprisingly cut completely through the thick bo-staff, slicing the bamboo in half. From there, the blade continued its downwards arc, and buried itself in the space between the imp's shoulder and neck.

In his adrenaline-induced fighting haze, Alex could literally _feel_ each of the muscles and tendons in the imp's neck and shoulder contracting around the point of impact, blood shooting out of the growing wound as the blade continued to cut through the unfortunate demon's body, quickly reaching its chest and going _even further,_ through its midsection and out of its side, completely opposite of where the strike had started.

Alex recovered from the attack and regained his stance, only to notice that the imp he had just struck was still standing, still holding the pieces of its staff up in the air in its futile attempt to block.

After a second, its body fell over, in two separate pieces.

"_Oh dear Lord…did I just do that?"_ he thought, putting a hand to his mouth in disgust.

Quickly turning to the other imp, Alex saw that it was just standing there, now shaking in fear with its bo-staff held out in front of it. He realized that he must have made a fearsome sight now, with his kimono splattered with black blood, with more of it dripping off his _glowing_ sword.

Scowling, he took one step toward it, and the lone demon took a step back.

"What's the matter, _fella?_" Alex taunted. "You scared?"

He took another step, and the imp let out a terrified screech, turning to run at the barrier, leaping into it, and vanishing if a cloud of black smoke.

"Yeah, that's right! RUN!" he shouted after it. "I got enough for _all of you!"_

Satisfied, he looked around to make sure that the imps hadn't brought friends with them, and seeing none, knelt down and began to wipe his sword off on the grass, taking note of the glow as it diminished more and more with the blood he wiped off.

"_Well at least I know what that glow means now,"_ he thought, shaking his head as he looked over at the corpse of the demon he had cut in half. _"Damn…that was a full-strength hit, too."_

Standing up, he tried his best to brush himself off, but gave up when he only succeeded in smearing the blood over more of his clothing. _"Crap,"_ he thought. _"Oki just bought these for me, too. Speaking of Oki…how the hell do I get out of here and back to him?"_

Suddenly, he saw a bright glow above and looked up, staring straight into the sun that had now managed to pierce the barrier above and around him and bathing the area in light, drowning out the blood-red color of the barrier. As quickly as it had appeared, the red energy vanished, leaving him standing by the river again with the pleasant sound of running water next to him. The imp corpses were nowhere to be seen, most likely having vanished along with whatever the hell that "arena zone" had been.

"_Alex!"_ he heard someone shout, and turned to see Oki run up to him and immediately begin searching him over. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked hurriedly.

"Whoa, hey, easy pal!" Alex complained, pushing Oki off. "I'm fine, really!"

Oki stood back, looking at the man's now blood-stained kimono and frowning.

"You are…" he said, in a tone that suggested disbelief. "But…how?"

"Geez, Oki, it was just a few imps. Nothing I couldn't handle," Alex said, a smug look coming onto his face. "You should have more faith in me."

"…Perhaps I should," the Oina man conceded, relaxing a bit. "Your first real battle…and you survived it without a scratch on you. A little bloody, perhaps, but that's to be expected. Not many can claim the same feat, Alex. You should be proud of yourself."

"Well…"Alex began. "…I _was_ trained by the best, even if just a little…so…thanks."

Oki stared at him for a moment, before quietly nodding.

"Oh, and I think I know what the sword does when it's glowing, too," Alex said, changing the subject before it got awkward.

"Really? What is it?"

"Three words: slice and dice."

"Slice and…" Oki repeated, frowning in confusion, before slowly nodding again in realization. "You mean, the sword's edge becomes sharper?"

"'Sharper' is an understatement," Alex clarified. "I freakin' cut one of the thing in _half_…while he was _blocking._"

Oki suddenly noticed a somber look appear on Alex's face as the man looked over to where he had temporarily disappeared.

"It was so easy, too…how I just…just killed them," he whispered, shaking his head as his giddiness over surviving visibly began to wear off. "Shit…I just killed them…just like that."

Oki knew what Alex was feeling right away: guilt. The same kind of guilt a novice warrior felt after taking his first life in a real battle, the kind of guilt that came with the knowledge of knowing that he himself had done it. Walking up to Alex, who was looking down at the ground, Oki put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Alex…" he began. "One thing I cannot teach you is how to cope with the knowledge that you have just taken a life…but what I _can_ tell you is this: demons have been fighting with the mortal races of Nippon for a very long time, and in that time, they have caused countless tragedies for us. Demons are pure evil at their very hearts, and nothing has happened to shake that belief in all of that time. Believe me when I say that the world will not miss the passing of a few imps, because the fewer demons there are in this world, the better a place it will become."

"Yeah…" Alex said, still looking down. "It still doesn't feel right though."

"You wouldn't be human if it did," Oki said. "I will admit to you that taking a life, even a demon's life, does have a certain sting to it. Just remember, the life of a warrior is one fraught with countless battles. There will be more bloodshed to come in later days, of that you can be certain, and today will also not be the last day that you fight a demon. You _will_ be forced to take more lives before you reach the end of your road…so the only thing you can do in those times is to steel your heart, and remain strong."

Alex continued to look at his feet for a minute, before slowly looking back up at Oki and nodding. "Ok…I'll try to remember that."

"That's all I ask," Oki said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Now come! Agata Forest is just around the bend, and I would rather not wait around for another one of those demon scrolls to show up."

Alex agreed wholeheartedly, and the two of them quickly gathered their belongings and went on their way again.

As they walked, Alex decided to ask, "So, that thing was a 'demon scroll', as you called it?"

"Yes," Oki answered. "They are the physical manifestation of the demons' grudges, first appearing on Nippon during Orochi's first demon siege. They pursue unwary travelers, waiting for the right moment to strike and pull their victim into the dark realm within. Once there, the unfortunate soul is at the complete mercy of the demons contained within…that is, of course, unless they know how to fight back."

"So killing all the demons in these 'scrolls' lets you break free?"

"Yes, but not all of the people on Nippon know how to fight like you or I. Most of the time, anyone who gets caught by those scrolls…ends up dead."

"_Yeesh…"_ Alex thought. _"This place is getting more and more dangerous by the day."_

"Wait a second…" he said, remembering something. "That merchant we talked to…he said that that his business was booming because the 'monsters' had all but disappeared. If that was the case, then how'd he miss something as obvious as a giant green scroll just floating around?"

"Perhaps it was hiding, so he simply did not see it," Oki replied. "Or…it could have appeared only recently, after he had passed through the area."

"But…that would mean it appeared only an hour or two ago!"

"Precisely…which would mean that the corruption of the demons has begun to spread again, even to this peaceful end of Nippon," Oki said, looking over his shoulder as if worried about being ambushed by more of the demon scrolls.

"Pick up the pace!" he hissed suddenly. "We must get through Agata Forest before nightfall!"

* * *

><p>Several hours later Alex finally realized something: Agata Forest, being smaller than the massive forest that he had appeared in, made up for its smaller size in two ways.<p>

One, it was dark…_extremely _ dark. The tree canopy above was amazingly thick, blocking out the vast majority of the sky and leaving only small pockets that served no purpose other than to tell them that is was getting late as the sun began to dip low. Anywhere else, Alex found himself tripping over dirt rises and exposed roots, and having Oki guide him with his wolf night-vision did little to help, as he could barely see the dark-furred wolf weaving his way through the trees.

Secondly, most of the 'forest' actually consisted of large, marshy areas complete with large pools of semi-fetid water, annoying insects, and a chorus of marsh frogs whose endless chirping and croaking quickly began to grate at his nerves. Alex soon found out, however, that the frogs were the least of his problems, as he made a misstep and his foot plunged into one of the smaller pools of stagnant water.

"Oh, _gross!_" he complained, and was immediately shushed by Oki.

"Quiet! We don't know what could be waiting for us in here! We have to get to the other side as fast, and as quietly as possible!" he whispered harshly.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to get a foot fungus!" Alex angrily whispered back, kicking his wood sandal off and trying to pull off the soaked stocking.

"Do you _want_ me to bind and gag you until we're through here? !" Oki whisper-yelled back at him. "Because I will!"

"I'd like to see you try, fuzz-for-!"

Oki suddenly shushed him in mid-sentence, raising a finger to silence the man's protests as he turned to look at the path ahead of them.

"Something is up ahead," he whispered quietly, immediately shifting back to wolf form.

"What is it?"

"I hear…chanting. Follow me, _quietly!_" Wolf-Oki growled at him, before silently padding off. Alex let out an exasperated sigh before pulling his soaked stocking and sandal back on and setting off after him.

They came to an overgrowth of brush set between two large trees, and Alex could see a shifting light filtering through the leaves. Coming up next to Wolf-Oki, the two glanced curiously at each other before Alex slowly reached over and pushed the brush aside, the man and wolf peering through the hole as their faces were lit up by the light on the other side.

"_What the hell…?"_ Alex thought.

(_Okami OST – Drunken Imps_)

On the other side of the brush, illuminated by several campfires, was a large clearing filled with at least a dozen imps, some of them either crouched around a fire, jumping around in some odd form of hopping dance, or chattering nonsensically. Each one of them, however, was carrying a small jug of sorts, one of them taking a swing from its own and letting out an excited yell as it began to hop wildly around the fire with the others who were dancing.

Behind the imps and lit up in an imposing manner by the campfires, was a massive pair of stone doors, set into the hill behind them and covered with a variety of strange markings, carpets of moss that had caked into the nooks and crannies, and thick vines galore.

"_Imps…"_ Wolf-Oki growled quietly. "And from the looks of it, drunk out of their minds."

"How can you tell?" Alex whispered, careful not to tip off the demons to their hiding place.

"Those jugs they're carrying…they're filled with pure sake. I can smell it from here."

Alex was about to ask something else when one of the imps suddenly piped up, "Sho when're we raiding the village again?"

"We could…we could prolly do it again tonight…" one of its friends slurred, weaving around drunkenly. "That Kushi girl…she makesh shome goooooooooood shake…"

"Yeah, she doesh…but why worry 'bout it now? We got enough shake to lasht ush three whole nightsh!"

"Maybe next time, we can grab her and have her _make_ ush more of this delicioush shake!"

"Naw, that'd never work!" another imp broke in. "She'd get all whiney and mopey, jusht like they all do! She wouldn't make ush any more shake! Plush, Queenie would probably want to eat her, just like the othersh." Standing up shakily and pointing the index finger of his free hand up into the air, he continued. "I shay we just let her shtay in that shtinkin' village, where she's nice'n happy, sho she'll keep brewing, and we'll keep drinkin'!"

The other imps let out a cheer, some of them clapping the smart imp on the back while others took a huge chug of their sake jugs in a toast, one of them falling over in a drunken stupor and spilling its jug on the ground, much to the amusement of its friends.

"Raiding the village…are they talking about Kamiki?" Alex whispered.

Oki nodded. "Most likely. The faster we get through here, the better. Follow me. We'll circle around them."

"Aw, come on! We can take 'em!" Alex stated.

"Just you and me, against a dozen imps?" Oki said incredulously. "I still have yet to teach you how to fight when surrounded by opponents on all sides, and besides that, we don't even know if those are the only imps nearby! There is absolutely no way we could kill them all before one of them raised the alarm!"

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts! We're going around!"

"Fine…"

Now off the beaten path (not that there was much of a path to begin with), Alex and Oki found it slow going, as they took a wide route that circumvented the clearing and the imps with it.

As they passed around, Alex caught another glimpse of the giant stone doors through the brush.

"Those doors…where do they go?" he asked.

"The Tsuta Ruins…" Oki answered. "…no one goes in there anymore." That was all he would say on the matter.

The chattering of the imps faded into the distance as they went deeper into the forest, the darkness swallowing them up once more. Oki moved very fast now, Alex being forced to jog to keep up with him, and the man was grateful that his stamina had built up to the point that it had from carrying Oki's bag for the past several days. Still, he found himself panting as Oki pressed harder into the forest, trying to reach the edge before the sun completely disappeared behind the horizon and left them at the mercy of the other dangers that might have been lurking in the dark. He thought about telling Oki to slow down, but given everything else that Oki had ignored him over, he doubted that the Oina man would listen. He decided to suck it up and keep marching along, the contents of the bag he carried shifting around noisily as his feet pounded into the ground from the weight and exertion.

Fortunately, their break-neck pace ended up paying off, because before Alex even knew it, they had cleared the tree line and suddenly ended on a small grassy path leading between two solid walls of rock. Oki breathed an audible sigh of relief as they finally stopped for a breather, Alex bending over with his hands on his knees and letting out a series of hacking coughs. The sun had just about fully disappeared now, and stars were beginning to come out, twinkling silently in the sky.

"Alright, we're through the worst part," the Oina man said. "Shinshu Fields is just through that small pass ahead."

"_Finally…some civilization,"_ Alex thought, forcing himself back up. "Well what're we waiting for? Let's get going!"

The instant they entered the small pass, Alex could feel the warm breeze wafting through it, making him feel strangely comfortable, as though all the stress from the past few days was being coaxed from his body and spirit. Somehow, he knew that where he was going was a safer place than the ones he had left behind him, and he found himself walking faster as he went to see what was on the other side of the pass.

Breaking out into the open, the two of them finally beheld Shinshu Fields in its entirety: rolling hills of golden-green grass, shifting in the warm breeze and lit up in a beautiful hue by the brightness of the full moon, even the great celestial object itself seeming less haunting by the aura of comfort and warmth that the fields radiated.

And this was all at _night._ Alex actually found himself excited over how the area would look once it turned daytime.

Oki let him enjoy the scenery for a bit, then tapped him on the shoulder and directed his gaze to another small pass in the rocky wall, a good distance off across the field.

"That is the path to Kamiki Village," he said. "Come, just a short ways more and we should be able to sleep under a roof on decent beds for once."

"About time…my dogs are barking," Alex replied.

Oki stared at him with a confused look in his eyes.

"Oh…it means I'm tired and I want to sit down," Alex explained.

"Right…" Oki responded, before setting off.

Walking slower now, the feel of danger at their backs having disappeared, Alex asked Oki, "Do you think the demon scrolls could have gotten this far? The 'corruption', as you put it?"

"That is…a very likely possibility," Oki replied. "We should remain on our guard, especially if the imps are raiding the village as they said. Keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary."

Fortunately, Alex couldn't spot anything that looked like a floating, green-colored piece of paper, so their progress went unhindered as they drew close to the entrance of Kamiki.

"Hey…do you hear that?" Alex said, stopping suddenly.

Oki stopped too, listening a bit before nodding. "More chattering. The imps must be raiding the village again!"

The two of them took off down the trail, Alex thinking, _"This couldn't be the same group of imps we saw in the forest…there's no way they could have gotten past us so fast! Maybe Oki was right about there being other imps nearby that particular camp!"_

Realizing that he was lagging behind the Oina man, Alex double-timed it up the path, heaving himself along as fast as Oki's bag would let him go. As such, he nearly plowed into the Oina man when he realized that he had stopped dead in the middle of the road, staring at the group that had gathered in a ring around one particular individual, in front of all the wooden pagoda-style buildings that obviously made up Kamiki Village.

Looking closer, Alex realized with a start that the group numbered eight imps total, each of them gathered around a small, old man with an amazingly long beard that reached to the ground, balancing on a wobbly old cane and wearing what appeared to be some kind of orange on his head.

"You think you can stop us, old man?" one of the imps chattered. "We're gonna step all over you, and then we're gonna take what we want!"

"Tsk, tsk…" the old man spoke to them. "Didn't they ever teach you to respect your elders?"

"HA!" another imp barked out. "What're ya gonna do, oldie? You're outnumbered!"

"Perhaps…" the old man began, straightening out and stretching his arms.

"…but you are clearly outmatched."

The imps around the old man growled angrily, drawing their weapons and advancing on him. Alex stepped forward, drawing his sword and preparing to rush to the elder's aid, but was stopped by an outstretched hand from Oki.

"Wait," the Oina man commanded.

"What do you mean WAIT? !" Alex said incredulously. "They're gonna rip him limb from limb!"

"Just wait…" Oki repeated. "Trust me. There is more to this than what meets the eye."

Alex seriously considered just pushing Oki out of the way and charging in, but something in the Oina man's voice made him stop. With a huge amount of worry clouding his features, Alex watched as the imps drew in around the old man, raising their weapons into attacking stances.

Suddenly, the old man whipped his right arm out to his side, and the imps immediately leaped back in unison, expecting an attack.

All that was clutched in his hand, however, was a clay jug similar to the ones the imps in Agata Forest had.

"First…a ginger sip of sake, to wet my throat," the old man mumbled, popping the cork off…and proceeding to chug the entirety of it in a series of massive gulps. Even the imps were entranced at how fast he was downing the potent alcohol, standing there with their weapons slowly lowering as they gaped at him.

Wiping his mouth off, the old man let off a belch before tossing the jug aside. "Ah, much better," he said, closing his eyes and smiling peacefully.

Oki, Alex, and every single imp there continued to watch with baited breath…as nothing happened.

"Ok, this is taking too long!" the main imp said, stepping forward and raising his claw-blades to strike the old man down.

In an instant, the old man's eyes snapped open, and the imp stopped dead in mid-strike.

Faster than Alex could blink, the old man lashed out with his right hand, index and middle fingers pointing straight at the scroll-face of the imp.

Alex wasn't sure if the old man had actually hit the imp or not, but he immediately forgot about it when the imp's head exploded…

…into a fully bloomed cherry blossom.

(_Okami OST – The Konohana Shuffle_)

"What th-!" one imp exclaimed, leaping back as the flower-headed imp's body fell to the ground. "What'd you do to Petey? !"

"The same that shall be done to _you,_ foul demons!" the old man exclaimed. Thrusting his hand out again, the imp that had just spoken was suddenly launched backwards by an invisible hand, trailing cherry blossoms through the air before hitting the ground and exploding into a large cloud of the flowers.

"_Get 'im!"_ the other imps yelled, charging the old man with weapons raised.

But by the time one of them had gotten close enough to swing at him, he was already moving, leaping about with amazing flexibility for an old man. Alex rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as he realized that the old man was _dancing_ out of the way of the flurry of attacks that the imps were throwing at him, in a way that reminded him of the breakdancing street-performers back home.

Brushing past one imp, he smacked it on the back with the palm of his hand, knocking it off balance before it disintegrated into cherry blossoms as well. Another imp leaped high into the air for an attack, but the old man proved faster, wheeling his arms about and pointing powerfully at it, exploding it into flowers in mid-air.

The other four imps rushed him simultaneously, trying to prevent him from flowering any more of them. The old man proved faster, however, dodging their attacks while shuffling from side to side, as Alex realized that he was maneuvering them into a position where he could take them out all at once.

Finally, the four imps had had enough, each one swinging their stick at the old man at the exact same time. Having obviously seen it coming, though, the old man simply ducked, and all four bo-staffs cracked together right where his head had been. Not wasting his opening, the old man immediately lashed out with his fingers flying in every direction, a rapid _thwap-thwap-thwap-thwap_ reaching Alex's ears as the old man connected each hit to one of the imps around him.

The imps now stood there frozen, and the old man simply walked out from under them. Brushing himself off with his free hand, he lightly tapped the ground with his cane as he walked away…and all fours imps exploded in a massive cloud of pink-colored blossoms.

Settling back down into his hunched stance, the old man let out a deep sigh as he seemed to deflate a bit, even his long beard appearing to lose energy.

"_Oof_…" the old man muttered, rubbing his lower back. "I'm getting too old for this…"

"_I don't know whether I'm amazed or terrified by that,"_ Alex thought, his jaw having literally dropped. _"Even the old men here are dangerous!"_

Looking up, the old man spotted Alex and Oki and immediately broke into a wide smile, waving them over. "Ah, visitors! Welcome to Kamiki Village!"

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><p><strong>Yeah, I just HAD to slip in that little scene with Mr. Orange...anyone who can dance like he does deserves their time in the spotlight, if you ask me.<strong>

**Anyways, rate and review if ya want, and I'll see you next time!**


	10. Meeting the Locals

**Ugh...so much time since the last update. Can't say much else about it, other than that I was pretty dang busy with college work and visiting with friends.**

**Also, I had to work this chapter a bit. Lots of character introduction, and puzzling over how I should divvy up the chapters in this section of the story. Don't worry though, I think I've got it down now, so hopefully the next update should be a bit sooner!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Meeting the Locals<strong>

Oki and Alex cautiously approached the old man, still standing there bent over his cane and wearing a tired-looking smile on his face. They figured the old man was a friend, but after his little display with the imps, they weren't taking any chances.

Noticing this, the old man wheezed, "Nothing to worry about, strangers. My name is Mr. Orange, and I am but an old man…with a slight chip on his shoulder over imps, I must admit. Do not fear, as you are both welcome here in our safe little village."

"You fight well, old one," Oki stated. "I doubt even Elder Kemu could do battle like you, and he was once the finest fighter in all of Kamui."

The old man inclined his head towards the Oina man. "Thank you for your kind words, but I am no real fighter. I do not defend this village from whatever horrors attempt to burst through its gate. That job mainly falls to Great Warrior Susano."

"Susano?" Alex spoke up. "The warrior that slew Orochi is here?"

"Ah, so you've heard the story?" Mr. Orange said, smiling again. "Yes, he makes his home here with his lovely wife Kushi and his young child Kuni. Normally, he helps her brew the village's sake, but as of late, he has also taken up his sword again to assist in the defense of the village."

The sound of heavy puffing and wheezing suddenly reached all their ears. "Ah, here he comes now," Mr. Orange stated, slowly turning around.

Looking around the old man, Alex caught sight of a tall, burly-looking man with a thick beard and spikey hair running towards them. As he drew closer, Alex could see that he was actually struggling with his vest, attempting to pull it on with one arm while holding his loose pants up with the other. Given the man's roughshod appearance, Alex figured that he must have just gotten out of bed and was rushing to the village's "defense" while trying to pull his clothes on along the way.

What really caught his eye, though, was the truly massive wooden sword slung across the man's back, looking exactly like the one he had seen through the orb. He could even see the little flower bloom growing out of the sharp edge, a soft touch to the otherwise deadly-looking weapon.

Unfortunately, the hefty weapon apparently wasn't strung on right, because the man's wildly teetering run was causing it to slip off his back. Reaching out to try and save it, the man accidentally let go of his pants, which promptly fell to his feet and tripped him up, causing him to pitch forward and slam face-first into the dirt at the feet of Mr. Orange.

"_Oooo…faceplant!"_ Alex thought, cringing.

"Are you alright, Susano?" the old man asked, bending over him.

"Garrrr…." the burly man groaned into the ground, before quickly leaping back to his feet as though nothing had happened. "Of course I'm alright!" he said, dirt flying from his lips. "Susano the Mighty is far too strong to be deterred by a simple fall!"

"_You've gotta be kidding me…"_ Alex thought. _"THIS is the Susano I've heard about? The one I SAW kill Orochi through that orb?"_

"Apologies for not arriving sooner, Mr. Orange!" Susano continued loudly. "Had I not been distracted with the task of finding my clothes, I would have shown up in time to take care of those monsters myself!"

"Well, there is certainly nothing to worry about now. It was a few mere imps and nothing more. However, you are just in time to help me welcome these two to our fair village," Mr. Orange said, gesturing to Alex and Oki.

"Eh?" Susano said, looking at the two of them. Striding right up to the pair, he first stared Oki right in the eye, the Oina man standing at equal height to the burly Kamiki Warrior and looking back without flinching in the slightest.

"Hmmmm…" Susano growled lowly. "One of those 'wolf-folk' from the north, I'm guessing?"

"You are correct," Oki answered with his own growl, which sounded far more intimidating from what could only have been years of practice.

The burly man blinked once, taking a step back from Oki as if suddenly nervous about the Oina man's presence. Turning to Alex, he strode right up to the man and put his fists on his hips, staring down at him. Alex realized that, up close, the burly warrior stood at least several inches taller than him, and also appeared much bulkier due to an apparent beer gut and layers upon layers of heavy muscle that rivaled even Oki's.

"What about you, little man? Where are you from?" Susano grunted.

"Um, well…" Alex said, trying and failing to stand his ground. It wasn't so much the man's intimidating bulk that made him want to take a step back, so much as it was his horrible stench that came off of him in waves, a stale-smelling mixture of dried sweat and beer.

Fortunately, Oki came to his rescue, stepping over and saying, "He's a brief acquaintance of mine from Sei-an City. We met on the road and were simply traveling together for mutual safety, seeing as how these are dangerous times and all."

Susano looked over at him, and slowly nodded. "Dangerous times, indeed. Monsters, once thought dead and gone, reappearing from the darkness. We have seen them make numerous attempts at our village, but the people of Kamiki have nothing to fear!" His voice rising in volume, he drew his massive sword and began swinging it around for effect, forcing Alex to duck and Oki to jump back.

"…For I, Susano, the Descendent of Nagi, shall not allow evil to pass through that gate!" he continued, pointing the weapon towards the pass from Shinshu Fields. "Fear me, creatures of darkness, for the light of Tohenboku shall _purge you from this land!_"

"Aw, shaddup!" came a shout from one of the nearby houses. "Some of us are trying to sleep here!"

Susano quickly fell silent, suddenly sweating profusely as he realized just how loud he was being. Putting his sword away, he said in a much quieter tone of voice, "Err…welcome to Kamiki…"

"Susano? What are you yelling about now?" a female voice said behind the burly man, and everyone looked over to see a young woman with messy black hair tied into a bun, wearing a simple white kimono and carrying a small, blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms, which Alex guessed had to be her and Susano's child. "The people of this village need their rest, and so does Kuni."

"Not to worry, my dear Kushi," Susano said, breaking into a wide smile and walking over to embrace her as he looked down at the child with a father's tender loving care. "The village is safe for tonight. All we have here are some visitors who wish to stay in Kamiki for the night, correct?" he asked, turning back to face Oki and Alex.

"Of course," Oki stated, stepping forward. "Is there a place that we could stay for a few days?"

"Hmmm…well, there is an open building near the outskirts of the village across the river," Mr. Orange stated, gesturing to the bridge down the path and near a large waterwheel. "No one lives there anymore, so we decided to make it into a bit of a guest house for visitors…unfortunately, no one has come for quite a while now. You two are the first visitors we have had in almost a month."

"Let me guess…the demons?" Alex said.

"Yes…blasted nuisance, they are!" the old man growled. "But so long as the village is safe, I am content. We have everything we need here, such as food and water, and we always share what we have. So come! Make yourselves at home, and stay as long as you wish!"

"Thank you. We shall do our best not to impose," Oki said, bowing politely. "Come, Alex, let us deposit our things."

"_You mean YOUR things…"_ Alex thought, hefting the heavy bag of Oki's that he still carried.

"Fine by me…" Susano said. "Come Kushi, let us return to bed."

"Gladly," she responded, yawning while adjusting the bundle she carried. As the two of them walked off, Mr. Orange slowly led Alex and Oki over to the house they were to stay at, Alex examining the old man the entire way.

"_I still don't get how a hobbling old man like him could have such awesome moves…they could make him famous if he ever ended up back home," _he thought.

As they passed over the bridge, he stopped for a moment to listen to the running water, the sound reminding him of the ocean surf of the docks in San Francisco.

"_Am I ever going to find my way back home?"_ he thought, leaning on the railing and looking over the edge. _"I know things are looking up a bit, now that we've hit the village, but…it still just doesn't fit right with me."_

He reached down, feeling the small pouch filled with the glass shards of the orb jingling around from where it hung on his sash. Letting out a deep sigh, he straightened up and moved to rejoin Oki and Mr. Orange. _"Well…it's not like I have much to go back to. Thanks to that fire, I've got jack-shit in terms of possessions now and next to no money to buy any of it back. Well, who knows? Maybe this is fate's way of telling me that it's time for a fresh start, in a brave new world. At least I've still got food, water, and now a roof over my head here. If I have to fight off some crazy-ass demonic monsters to protect that…then I guess I can deal with it."_

Looking at Mr. Orange and Oki, who were having a brief discussion in front of the house, he managed a faint smile.

"_An old fogie who fights with breakdancing, and a muscle-head that can turn into a wolf at will…hell, it could be worse."_

As Oki bid farewell to the old man, he and Alex went inside to inspect their living quarters, which consisted of a single-story building with several paper walls of typical Japanese style dividing it up into three semi-large rooms: the entrance that they stood in and two separate rooms on either side in front of them. Both had a woven straw mat on the floor with pillows and blankets, a dresser with a mirror and lamp, a small shin-height table for eating, and not much else, other than space for their bags and belongings.

Oki took his heavy bag off of Alex's shoulders and brought it into the left room, placing it on the floor and, after lighting his lantern, arranging some of the various items within.

After a moment, he said, "We shall be staying here for several days at least, so make yourself comfortable."

"What exactly _are_ we going to be doing here?" Alex asked, standing in the doorway to Oki's room.

"Well, that seems to be up to you," Oki replied. "You were the one who wanted to come here in the first place, and I just happened to be heading in the same direction. I don't know what your plans are, but if you came here seeking refuge, Kamiki is as good a place as any. However, I myself will not be staying for long."

"Really? But…what about our training?" Alex asked.

"If you wish to keep traveling with me, then no harm done," Oki stated simply. "However, if you came here with the intention of staying, I won't force you to come with me. And if Susano is as good a warrior as they say he is, you could possibly convince him to continue your training…though that little display of his gave me doubts."

Alex said nothing, but pondered the Oina man's words with a somber look on his face as he stared down at the floor. Even though he had only known Oki for about a week now, the sudden thought of the Oina man leaving without him seemed like an almost alien concept.

"Relax," Oki said, noticing his tension. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, get some rest."

Slowly nodding, Alex went into his own room and, after a bit of searching to find it, slid the paper door shut behind him. Pulling off his sword, he laid it out next to the mat, along with his dark blue overcoat and wooden sandals. Rubbing his sore feet, which were clearly more accustomed to tennis shoes, he regarded the straw mat with some trepidation.

"_Crap…no padding on this thing. I'm gonna get back pain from this for sure,"_ he thought dejectedly. But seeing no other choice, he lay back on the pillow and covered himself with the blanket, surprised by how tired he suddenly felt now that the adrenaline from the imp scare had gone away.

Listening to the chorus of crickets outside their door, Alex slowly closed his eyes as Oki blew out his lamp and went to bed himself.

* * *

><p>Waking up the next day, surprisingly pain-free, Alex went over to Oki's room and found it empty, though his belongings were still laid out.<p>

"_Huh…must've already gone out to do some stuff,"_ he thought._ "Guess I could do the same, meet some people and all that, seeing as how we're not going anywhere for a least a few days."_

Putting on his overcoat and sword, he went up to the front door…and suddenly stopped, turning back around to look back into Oki's room, and the unattended bag sitting inside it.

"_Hmm…Oki's not here…maybe I could learn a few things about HIM while I'm at it."_

Taking a quick peek out the door to make sure the Oina man was out of sight, he slowly walked over to the bag and opened it up. At first, he saw what he expected: the usual assortment of primitive camping equipment, packages of preserved food, and some spare clothing that (unsurprisingly) matched what Oina man was wearing already.

However, after shifting a few things around, careful not to stir up the belongings _too_ much, he caught a glimpse of the corner of what looked to be some kind of paper slip.

Frowning a bit, he reached in and tugged it loose, buried as it was beneath everything else in the bag. Pulling it out, he saw that it was actually a folded up piece of old-timey parchment paper, heavily wrinkled from use and age. Unfolding it, he could make out some smudged writing, in what looked to be typical Japanese kanji, focused around a picture of some sort.

Squinting to see it better on the wrinkled parchment, he realized that he was looking at a beautifully painted color ink picture of a white wolf, surrounded by an aura of blazing fire that seemed to be coming off of its very body and wearing an odd looking disc on its back, also on fire. He could also make out some of the markings on its body, bright red in color and weaving together in an intricate, flowing design that ran its entire length from nose to tail. Along its paws and legs, there were tufts of fur that were styled to have the appearance of swirling cloud, and its tail even looked somewhat like a giant paintbrush with ink soaked into the end of it.

Even though it was badly wrinkled, Alex could still see the amazing attention to detail that had gone into the picture, as though the artist had poured his or her very soul into making it. But there was still something about it that gave him an odd feeling.

"_Where have I seen this before?"_ he thought. _"I seem to remember something about that general shape…and that disc…"_

The memory of the shadowy battle he had seen through the orb suddenly came to mind, the image of the wolf swinging a fiery disc against the eight-headed monster Orochi, cutting deep lines into the image as though it were doing actual damage to the creature.

"_Of course!"_ he realized, smacking his fist into his palm._ "This is the same wolf I saw with that orb…which means this must be…Amaterasu, as Oki said? Sheesh…no wonder he was so weird about saying its name…it looks even MORE dangerous than he does, if such a thing is even possible! But why would he be carrying around its picture in the first place?"_

Deciding that the question was best left for later, Alex quickly folded up the paper and stuffed it back into place at the bottom of the bag, making sure that everything was still in their right places before opening the front door and heading out into the village.

(_Okami OST – Cherry Blossom Shower_)

Now that it was morning, Alex got his first good look at Kamiki Village and the surrounding area, the sun-warmed air blowing in soft gusts and carrying with it a large amount of cherry blossom petals. From the door, Alex could see the villagers already out and about, performing tasks such as working in their gardens and fields or carrying buckets of water from the river to their homes. One elderly woman was busy hanging clothes from a string near the river where she was washing them, while a few young children ran about laughing and playing while weaving through the lines of clothing.

"_This place ain't so bad when the imps aren't attacking,"_ he thought, as he began to walk down the road towards the bridge. Passing by the mill and its water wheel, he could see the same young woman that had been talking to Susano last night working in a rice paddy in front of it, tending to some stalks while busy harvesting others of their bounty and collecting the harvest in a large basket. Looking up as he passed by, she smiled and waved at him, which he returned politely, if a bit awkwardly. _"She seems nice enough…" _he thought._ "I should go up and introduce myself."_

Walking over to her and stopping on the edge of the paddy, he said, "Hi…uh, how are you today?"

"I'm well, thank you for asking," she replied. "You are the one who came to visit with the Oina man, correct?"

"Yeah…name's Alex," he said. "And you?"

"Kushi. Pleased to meet you, Alex," she said, bowing slightly in greeting. "And welcome to Kamiki Village."

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "So, is this rice you're harvesting?"

"Yes, I grow and harvest the rice to make the village's sake. Brewing is my specialty, you see!"

"Really? Well, normally I'd try some, but sadly I'm not drinking age yet."

"Nonsense! You look old enough to me," she replied matter-of-factly.

"_Oh, right, right!"_ he thought. _"Old-timey Japan means lower minimum age for adulthood, just like it said in history class! Gotta remember that."_

Cleaning the grains off of one more stalk of rice, she stood up straight placed the lid back on the basket. "That should be enough for today, so I will be taking this back to Susano and I's home. It was nice talking with you Alex."

"Yeah, same here," he replied. Noticing the large basket hanging off of her rather skinny frame, he decided on an afterthought to ask, "Uh, that looks kinda heavy…you want me to carry that for you?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Well, normally Susano helps me with the harvest, but seeing as how he is already occupied with your friend, I suppose you could help me with this." As she handed the basket over, Alex took it from her hand…and almost dropped it when she handed it off, the sudden increase in weight nearly dragging him to the ground.

"_Holy…! Geez, this thing is heavy! She must be one hell of a strong woman if she could lift this easier than me!"_

Kushi watched as Alex struggled with the heavy basket, the man barely managing to get it off the ground and nodding to her that he was good to go. Hobbling along awkwardly as he followed her over the bridge and down the road that the village was built around, he asked, "So (Hnnnngh!), what exactly _is_ (Huuurrrrk!) Susano doing (Urrrgghh!) with Oki?"

"I don't know…something about the training ground behind our house, from what I heard when I left for the harvest earlier," she answered. "Our house is the one near the other end of the village. You might have seen it as you came in last night."

"_Other end of the village…that figures," _he thought exasperatedly as he stumbled and nearly lost his grip on the heavy basket. "Any other places I should know about?" he asked.

"Hmm…well, that sword of yours is important to you, I would image?" she asked. Gesturing over to a nearby building, where the pounding of a hammer on an anvil could be heard emanating from an open window and smoke could be seen pouring from the chimney above, she said, "That is the blacksmith's hut there. If you ever need your sword repaired or sharpened, or need a suit of armor, Gizo would be the one to see."

Directing his gaze over to another building, which had a small hand-painted sign out in front of the door of a glass bottle with some strange-colored liquid inside it, she said, "That is Ishi's home…she is the village healer, who moved here from Sei-an several months ago. She provides numerous kinds of poultices, potions, and other things to cure your ailments. She is also quite handy with a bandage as well."

"_Village healer…that's the important one, right there,"_ Alex thought. "Maybe I'll check those places out later on," he said to Kushi.

"That would be best. You would do well to introduce yourself to the other people of this village as well. After all, what is life without friends?"

"Words to live by," he agreed, coming to a stop when she did.

"That should be close enough," she said, taking the basket from him. "I should be able to carry it from here. Thank you for your help, Alex."

"Yeah…no problem," he said, trying to disguise his heavy breathing in some ill-conceived attempt at being macho. She merely smiled at him and walked towards her and Susano's house, hoisting the basket with little to no trouble.

Looking back to see how far they had come, Alex noticed that, now that it was daytime, he could see a small stone path leading beyond the village, sloping up and curving around a large hill out of sight. Curious as to where it led, he caught up with Kushi and put the question into words for her.

"That road? That leads to Konohana…the Sacred Guardian Tree of Kamiki," she stated for him. "It is there that the shine to the great hero Nagi lies, as well as the shrine to the great Shiranui. Some people travel up there to pay their respects to them, the fallen heroes. If you wish, you may do the same."

"Maybe I will. Thank you, Kushi." Bidding her farewell, he walked towards where he could see Susano and Oki having a discussion by the front door of the former's home, the latter still wearing his mask even in public.

"_Doesn't he ever take that damn thing off?"_ Alex thought. As he got closer, he could here Susano say, "Sorry, wolf-boy, but I haven't seen head or tail of the pooch since then!"

"_Pooch?"_ Alex thought, slowing his approach. _"Who the hell are they talking about?"_

"Well, surely you must have _heard_ something about her, then!" Oki said, clearly becoming agitated. "Maybe some strange occurrence that could only be described as an intervention by the gods themselves?"

"Sorry, wolfie…can't help you there," came the gruff reply.

Alex chose that moment to clear his throat loudly, and the two men looked over at him, Oki immediately straightening up as he saw him. "Ah, there you are Alex!" he exclaimed. "Susano here has agreed to let us use his practice grounds for our training."

"Provided you don't break any of my training dummies!" Susano interjected. "Those take a long time to make!"

"Yes, yes, of course," Oki said, waving him off. "Care to see it, Alex?"

"Sure, whatever," Alex said, shrugging. As they went around the house, Alex saw that the practice ground was a large dirt clearing, surrounded by a wooden fence and filled with several training dummies. _"At least we've got a real place to train now..."_ he thought. "_No more risk of stepping in the fire."_

As he and Oki eventually launched into their next training session, with Susano, Kushi, and a few wide-eyed children watching, Alex quickly realized that the Oina man had decided (without telling him, of course) to kick his training into high gear. After the first few exchanges, which they would have quit after on the trail, Oki instead had him take a quick break before launching him back into it. Alex figured it was because they had ample resources at hand now, not to mention a far more comfortable setting without fear of having to save strength for the next day's hike. While having those things certainly made it easier, the very thought that they would now be training for _hours_ at a time made Alex cringe.

And it didn't end there. Once they were done with the sword fighting, Oki began having Alex practice focusing his ki again, making the man jump up to the roof of Susano's house and back down again repeatedly. By the time Oki decided to end training for the day, Alex was physically _and_ spiritually tired…but he knew that he could take heart in the fact that he had made a ton of progress today.

As Alex wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the sun, now at the midpoint in the sky, Oki said to him, "That should be enough for today. If you still have enough strength, you should take this time to go around town and meet a few people."

"Funny you should mention that, Oki. I was just thinking about paying a visit to the Gizo the blacksmith, to ask him about this sword," Alex said, jutting his thumb up at the hilt of the sword over his shoulder. "Maybe he'd know something about it."

"Perhaps…a blacksmith would certainly be the one to know," Oki replied, bidding the man farewell as he walked off. Heading back up the road to the blacksmith's hut, Alex opened the door and was immediately assaulted by a blast of heat that practically stole the breath from his lungs.

"Ah, hello!" a friendly, deep-sounding voice from within called out to him. "Come in, come in!"

Going inside, and already feeling more sweat beading on his forehead, Alex could see rows upon rows of simple straight-edges swords lining the walls, a handful of katanas mixed in along with a single, absolutely _enormous_ two-hander cap stoning it all, situated on the display wall right above where a sweaty, barrel-chested man worked, pumping air into the forge he stood in front of, a pair of metal tongs in hand as he worked a piece of metal in the blazing inferno before him.

"Welcome!" he boomed, yelling over the loud roar of the fire. "Feel free to browse, just don't touch anything! Some of these aren't finished yet!"

Looking over the walls at the various weapons, both with and without sheaths, Alex could see that many of them, while rather simple in quality, were still made of real steel and therefore still dangerous.

"_No cheap imitation swords here, like you see in gift shops,"_ he thought._ "These are the real deal."_

Looking around at the other weapons, his eye caught a glint of reflecting metal near the back of the shop. Moving closer for a better look, he realized that it was actually a suit of steel _armor_, crafted in the typical samurai style with thick, riveted plating and a kabuto-style helmet resting on top, the typical U-shaped piece of metal stuck firmly in place on the front of it. A smooth, leather-backed metal faceplate that protected the warrior's nose, mouth, and chin was secured to the helmet by a buckled leather strap that could be adjusted to the warrior's facial dimensions.

Looking at the rest of the armor, Alex could see that the chest and rounded shoulder plates, the latter of which consisted of overlapping pieces of metal to allow for flexibility, were easily the thickest parts, protecting nearly the entire upper body of whoever was to wear it. These were followed by the thick metal plates that were strapped on to the forearms and upper thighs, the thigh pieces partially covered over by a short, close-lying "skirt" piece on the waist that protected the warrior's more "personal" areas from attack. After that, heavy metal boots and gauntlets made in the same overlapping and flexible style of metal pieces completed the set, reaching up to just below where the warrior's knees and elbows would be respectively.

Beneath all of these pieces was an additional "outfit", consisting of a thick, black-dyed leather "shirt" and "pants" that offered additional protection and comfort, as the actual pieces of armor slipped over them. All of the metal plates were secured by a series of buckled leather straps, and were a bright, silvery grey in color, as clear an indicator as any that they had been crafted from the finest steel to offer the best protection that it could.

He heard shuffling behind him, as Gizo pulled the metal blade he was working on out of the forge and placed it on the anvil, banging it a few times with his hammer before looking it over and, seemingly satisfied, tossing it into the water trough to cool with a loud _hiss._ Standing up, he walked over to Alex with a big smile on his face, gesturing to the armor and saying, "Caught your eye as soon as you came in, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did. Did you make this?" Alex asked.

"Of course I did!" the blacksmith exclaimed. "It's my finest piece of work to date! Sadly, though, it's not for sale."

"Aww, really?"

"Yes…I was going to send it off with the next merchant caravan to Sei-an City and have them sell it there. Unfortunately, I've been unable to work up the nerve to do so; few caravans still chance the journey through this area nowadays, thanks to the recent demon infestation, and there are those among the ones that still do that are disappearing each day. I'm holding off on sending this fine piece of work with them until I can be sure that the roads are safe again. But enough about that…is there anything else that I can help you with?"

"There is one thing…" Alex said, pulling the sword off of his back and presenting it to Gizo. "I was wondering if you could tell me something about this sword."

Taking it from him, Gizo inspected the sheath a bit, before drawing the sword out and examining it with a critical eye, staring down the length of the blade like Oki had when the Oina man had first inspected it, among other things such as bending the blade as far as it could go in a test of the metal's flexibility.

After a while, Alex notice the man smiling and chuckling to himself, before sheathing the weapon and handing it back to him. "Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a weapon like this, young man?" he said. "Well, one thing I can certainly tell you about this sword is that its value is absolutely _priceless._"

"Priceless? ! Why?"

"Because of the metal it is crafted from…_moonsteel._"

"Moonsteel? What's that?"

"Possibly the best metal to ever grace the mortal realm…as such, acquiring it is not a simple task by any means. Creating moonsteel requires a ritual that must be performed over the course of an _entire year_, beneath each full moon of each separate month. During this process, only the finest steel ingots are chosen and placed beneath the light of the full moon, where they are repeatedly blessed with vast amounts of pure gold dust, enough to completely bury the steel ingots in. This ritual must be repeated with the same ingots and completely new doses of gold dust for each full moon of the year, making it a time-consuming and absurdly expensive task, which is why you don't see every warrior carrying a weapon made of it around."

Taking a breath, he continued. "However, the result is well worth it, for when the ritual is finally completed, the steel used is infused with the mystical power of the moon, granting any sword crafted from it both an incredibly sharp edge and the perfect balance of strength and flexibility. In some cases, these weapons also have some strange power associated with them, revealed only when the weapon is used in battle. Tell me…has this sword of yours exhibited anything of the sort?"

"Yeah…it glows in the moonlight and whenever it gets coated in demon blood," Alex answered. "And when it glows, it gets _really_ sharp."

"Hmm…interesting," Gizo said, rubbing his chin. "Moonsteel naturally glows in the moonlight, hence the name, but I've never heard anything about it glowing from demon blood…maybe the powers are connected in some way."

The statement hung in the air for a moment, before Gizo sighed and said, "Well, while I would certainly like to buy it off of you, my conscience says otherwise, because as I said, it's completely priceless from the sheer effort that must have gone into making it. No amount of wealth I could offer you would suffice, so I will leave it with you, along with some advice."

Leaning in close, he hoarsely whispered, "Do not tell anyone of your weapon's true nature. If someone besides you or me finds out that you carry a moonsteel weapon…you could very well wake up in the morning with your throat slashed open and the sword long gone."

* * *

><p>After departing the blacksmith's shop, Alex spotted the healer's home and figured, <em>"Why the heck not? I might end up in there one of these days, so I may as well get to know who this 'Ishi' is."<em> Going up to the door and opening it, he wrinkled his nose at the pungent scent that wafted out, but steeled himself and went inside, closing the door behind him.

(_Okami OST – Theme of Madame Fawn_)

Inside the house, he could see numerous glass vials and flasks filled with strange, bubbling liquid boiling away over various small fires, obviously her selection of potions. Also scattered around were numerous parchment-wrapped packages, some of them open and revealing various kinds of pasty material inside, which he realized had to be ground-up herbal medicine. In the back, he could see a doorway that led into a separate back room, which had rows of straw mats inside and stacks of cloth next to each one, obviously where the infirm were kept while they healed.

"Ah, who is this that enters my home?" he heard an old, raspy-sounding voice say. "A child? No…not a child anymore…but not quite a man, either. He is 'in between'…a man who has yet to prove himself."

From the back room, he saw an short, elderly, and hunched-over woman come out, her age apparent from the wrinkles on her face that were visible even through the thin veil that she wore over it. "My name is Ishi…I am the healer of this village. I offer various potions and herbal medicines to cure all ailments, as well as various rituals that help soothe the mind and body. So tell me, stranger…" she said, slowly gliding over to him. "What brings you to Old Ishi? What ails you that I may cure?"

"Uh…nothing. I mean…not yet at least!" he stammered, suddenly feeling caught off guard by the strange old woman. "Just, err, coming in to look around."

"Indeed?" she rasped. "Well, you will have to excuse me then. I am tending to someone at the moment, and cannot help you with anything."

As if on cue, Alex heard someone groan in the back, saying, "Oh, the pain…"

Smiling and revealing several spots where teeth were missing, she said, "Stomach pain," and glided back to the room, grabbing a potion off of the shelf as she went. "Here you are," she said. "This should ease the pain."

Alex wasn't around to hear the last sentence. The moment she disappeared through the back door, he turned and ran out the front, severely creeped out by the whole setting.

"_Ok…that's enough meeting new people for today,"_ he thought, taking a deep breath of fresh air as soon as he was outside and heading back towards his and Oki's house.

As he walked, he caught movement out the side of his eye and looked over in the direction he had seen it, in the small alley between two houses.

He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn that he saw a flash of pink-colored cloth.

"_I must be seeing things,"_ he thought, shaking his head before walking off.

* * *

><p>In the alley, the blonde-haired man pocketed the small device that he carried…the same device he had used to record the residual energy in the grove.<p>

The reading had been faint…incredibly so, but that did not deter him. Had it been anyone else, the reading would have been entirely nonexistent.

It was him…he was sure of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Yep...lots of plot development and character into...<strong>

***dodges rock***

**Hey! Don't throw stuff at me!**

**(Rate and review if ya want, and I'll see ya next time)**


	11. Prophecies

**Hello, loyal readers! Yes, I know that I sorta promised to get this next chapter in a little more quickly, but sneaky college midterms are sneaky -.- Spent most of last weekend studying for one that came up on me faster than I would have liked, which prevented me from writing for pretty much that entire time.**

**But anyhoo, now that I've actually gotten this chapter done, I'll just get out of your way and let you enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Prophecies<strong>

A slow, warm breeze blew through the air, gently shifting the many limbs of the great cherry tree that resided in the center of the clearing. Pink petals gently came free and were carried away by this wind, to spiral through the air and down into Kamiki Village below, where they either came to a rest on the ground, fell in the stream to be carried further away, or were gathered in handfuls by children playing one of their many games.

It was serene and calm…it was Konohana.

"_Big freakin' tree…"_ Alex thought, putting his hands on his hips as he stared up into the blossom-covered multitude of branches that made up its bulk. After spending half of that particular day training with Oki, the Oina man had suggested that Alex go to the tree to relax and meditate, so as to calm his mind and better focus for his ki training later. And, as Kushi had mentioned, the shrines to Nagi and Shiranui were here, and Alex had found himself genuinely interested in seeing them as he had ascended the path that led up to the great tree.

Looking back down, he immediately spotted the statue that had been placed within a large depression in the base of the tree trunk itself, the figure it represented holding his sword up high in a victorious pose as he stood on a tall base of stone that was, again, covered in various kanji symbols.

"_So that's Nagi, huh? He _does _seem to have some kind of resemblance to Susano,"_ he thought. The man carved out of the stone had the same spikey hairstyle and pot-belly figure of Susano, but the key difference that Alex saw between the two men was that the sword Nagi was holding looked to be in _far_ better condition, not to mention the crescent moon design situated on the cross guard.

Moving closer, Alex saw that the stone base of the statue was covered in moss and small vines from the nearby plant life, obscuring the kanji symbols which almost certainly said something respectful about the man.

"_Well we can't have that, now, can we?"_ he thought. Kneeling down, he reached out and began to strip away the small vines, using his thumb to scrape out the moss that had caked itself in the carved-out kanji symbols. He worked at it for a few minutes, but he remained undisturbed during that time, a fact which he was thankful for, because he wasn't sure how the people of the village would react if they found him messing with the shrine of their local hero.

After a while, his hands caked with dirt and flecks of moss, he pulled the last vine away and stood up, nodding in satisfaction as he looked at the cleared-up base of the statue.

"There you go, Nagi…nice 'n clean," he said, brushing his hands off.

Suddenly, he felt the wind shift direction and pick up slightly, stirring the branches of the tree and causing some of the cherry petals to come off and begin falling to the ground around him. And far off in the distance…he could swear he heard wind chimes.

"Come to pay your respects to the spirits?" he heard a voice behind him say.

(_Okami OST – Theme of Sakuya_)

Turning around, he saw a beautiful young woman standing there, wearing a kimono the same pink color of the cherry blossoms and a purple wrap around her waist. Her long black hair seemed to be floating in the wind itself, as did the thin purple shroud she had wrapped around her arms and floating behind her, both gently shifting as she strode towards him.

"Oh…uh…hi," he blurted out, suddenly feeling a little hot under the collar. "Uh…how long have you been there?"

"Just for a moment…long enough to see what you did for old Nagi here," she replied, coming up beside him to look at the statue they were standing in front of.

"Oh…you saw that, huh?" he said nervously. "Well, if I shouldn't be touching the shrine, then I can -"

"Do not worry," she said, smiling pleasantly as she continued to stare at the statue. "There is no harm in what you did…in fact, I believe Nagi is feeling rather appreciative of it."

"What?"

"It was a simple act, perhaps, but one born of kindness and respect…" she said, turning back to the tree and walking forward to place her hand against its trunk. "…and Nagi is thanking you for it."

Turning to look at him, she continued. "Look now, at the tree. Feel the wind blowing, and see the petals falling around you. Can you feel his spirit nearby? Can you sense him…watching over you?"

Alex looked up, and could see the sun gently filtering through the shifting branches as cherry blossoms continued to fall around him, one of them landing on his shoulder, which he picked off and stared at in his hand.

"Nagi's spirit resides here…in this most sacred of places, where even the darkness of the world cannot tread," she said, pacing around the circumference of the trunk a short ways. "…and he has watched over this village, as its silent protector, much like he had when he was alive. Even in the afterlife…the great guardian of Kamiki lives on in all of our hearts."

"Wow…" Alex whispered, suddenly feeling a strange sense of calm as she came back over to him. "Nagi really _was_ a great warrior, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was…just like the great Shirinui who aided him," she said, directing his gaze over to another shrine to the side. Unlike Nagi's however, the shrine was simply a flat stone surface, with no real noticeable decorations or adornments whatsoever.

"Uh…well, I'm not one to judge, but…shouldn't there be something a little _more?_" he asked.

"There was, at one time…" she said. "…a great stone statue of a wolf, carved in the same mystical likeness of the great Shiranui himself."

Taking a deep breath, she continued…

_While originally seen as a threat to the village by its inhabitants, as he appeared to them only on the days that Orochi's yearly sacrifice was to be chosen, the wolf Shiranui was actually waiting for the opportunity to find his way into the demon's lair and destroy it. At first, Nagi attempted to challenge Shiranui, but the wolf would evade his attacks and escape him every time._

_Then, during one fateful day about 100 years ago, Nagi's beloved Nami was chosen as the next sacrifice, which infuriated the great warrior to no end. Disguising himself in Nami's clothing, he gained entrance to Orochi's lair and challenged the demon. But though he fought valiantly, the great warrior could not pierce the mighty barrier that Orochi had summoned around himself, and brutally wounded, Nagi awaited his fate._

_But before the final blow was struck, Shiranui himself came to Nagi's aid, the great wolf distracting Orochi long enough for the warrior to regain his strength, and use the 8-purification sake that he had brought to intoxicate the demon and weaken it. However, even the mighty Shiranui was unable to pierce Orochi's barrier, and soon the great wolf faltered as well. But not all was lost, for Shiranui summoned the last of his strength to howl towards the sky, summoning the mystical moon and providing Nagi with the burst of strength he needed. With one powerful blow, he shattered Orochi's barrier and slew the mighty demon, saving Nami and Shiranui in the process._

_Unfortunately, Shiranui had been horribly poisoned by Orochi's fangs, and was carried back to the village by Nagi, where the great wolf later passed from this world…_

Placing her hands on the shrine's flat surface, she said, "In honor of the Shiranui's sacrifice, the villagers erected this shrine so that the wolf could rest in a place of honor in the village it had died protecting. And much later, when Nagi's time came, he too was brought here, to rest at the side of his brave ally."

"So…what happened to the statue then?" Alex asked.

"No one knows…" she answered mysteriously, with a mischievous smile. "The statue disappeared about a year ago, and none have seen it since."

"Huh…" he mused, giving her a slightly accusing look in answer to her smile. "…Why do I get the feeling that you know more than you're saying?"

She giggled slightly, a light, tinkling laugh that set him on edge. "Perhaps you will know, when you are more…prepared," she said, striding around the tree trunk and out of sight.

"Hey, where're you going? Hey!" he called out, running around the tree after her.

Rounding the trunk, all he saw was the green grass and the large exposed roots of the tree.

"_She's gone…"_ he thought, scratching his head in confusion. "_Just who, or what, the hell WAS she?"_

* * *

><p>The blonde-haired man waited on the rise above the path, briefly considering his options as he waited for the man to patrol back down from the tree.<p>

On one hand, he could wait for Amaterasu to show up, and the two of them could question the man together. That gave them power in numbers, including Issun, and the man would be hard-pressed to lie against those kinds of odds if he had any reason to. On the other hand, he knew that there could potentially be more to gain from confronting the man now, and speaking with him face-to-face. But if he did that, there could be unintentional…

His thoughts were interrupted when his vision suddenly blanked out, replaced by a sudden rush of images and words.

He knew what this was…a prophecy.

As he waited there, making sense of what he had both seen and heard, a faint smile slowly creased his lips as the prophecy faded away. His mind was already made up. Drawing his flute, he mentally prepared himself…and put on his best face as well.

He wasn't worried about any of the villagers, or the Oina man, interfering. He had seen to that already.

* * *

><p>"<em>Why do so many people in this damn place have to be such weirdos?<em>" Alex thought, tromping down the path. "_Would it hurt to just meet more than just a handful of NORMAL people?"_

Absorbed as he was in his thoughts, he still heard a sudden flow of pure notes from a flute, echoing far off into the distance as though carried by the wind itself.

"_Huh? Where's that coming from?"_ he thought, looking around for a moment before barely spotting a flash of pink cloth on the rise above the path.

"Hark!" he heard a smooth, yet triumphant voice call out. "The call of the heavens, the earth, the sea…they summon me forth to defeat evil!"

(_Okami OST – Enter Waka_)

Leaping from the rise and falling rapidly towards the ground, the flute man pulled into a perfect midair pirouette, cherry petals gathering around him in a swirling nimbus of air as his fall slowed and he lightly touched down on the path in front of Alex.

"_Whoa! Speaking of weirdos…Fruity Dresser, ladies and gentlemen!"_ Alex thought, staring at the vivid colors of the man's clothing, the odd and enormous flaps of his hat, and the ridiculously tall sandals he was wearing, almost like mini-stilts. He also caught sight of the wooden flute clutched tightly in the man's hand…and the katana belted to his waist.

"Waka, the god's gift to man, is here! _Bonjour!"_ the strange man finished, pulling into an elaborate bow with his flute held out to the side.

"_Oh, great! He's FRENCH too! What could POSSIBLY happen now that could surprise me? !"_ Alex thought, completely flabbergasted.

Rising up from his bow, the Frenchman crossed his arms in a rather casual sort of way, saying, "And at last, we meet! You have proven to be quite the difficult man to follow, Monsieur Alex."

"Wha…how the hell do you know my name? !" Alex demanded, still trying to make sense of the whole thing and failing miserably.

"Let's just say that…I have the ears of a _fox_," the man, Waka, quipped, a wry grin crossing his absolutely _flawless_ features.

"_Ears of a…oh dammit, Miyu! If I ever see you again, I'm gonna smack that grin right off your face!"_ Alex thought angrily.

"It seems you've caused quite a stir upstairs, Monsieur Alex," Waka continued, tapping his finger against his arm as he paced back and forth across the path. "Your rather 'sudden' appearance has raised quite a few questions…questions regarding _you."_

"Upstairs…? Just what the hell are you? Some kind of interrogator, or hitman?"

"_La bonte, non! _Goodness, no!" Waka exclaimed, translating for him in the same sentence. "I am but a humble Tao Master, working at the behest of a certain goddess who would simply _love_ to meet you."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I've got enough on my plate right now," Alex retorted, crossing his own arms.

"But of course, which is exactly why I figured that you and I could have a friendly little 'chat', simply to learn from each other what the other wants to know!"

"Sorry buddy, but I make it a habit to _not_ talk to wierdos. Now if you'll _please move…_" Alex said, moving to push past the man in his way.

(_Okami OST – Fighting Waka_)

The man suddenly raised the flute in front of his face, grabbing the end of it and pulling…leaving a beam of pure green glowing energy in its wake, until it had extended to a length comparable to a longsword. Holding it in one hand, he quickly pointed the end of it towards Alex, the crackling energy at the man's throat and forcing him to stop.

"_A LIGHTSABER? ! You've gotta be kidding me!"_ Alex thought, gawking.

"Let us not be hasty now…" the suddenly dangerous man quipped, still cool and collected. "I have traveled a very long way to speak with you, so the least you could do is afford me the opportunity to do so."

"With a lightsaber at my neck? ! Some 'friendly chat'!" Alex retorted, stepping back a bit.

"_Oui!_"Waka exclaimed. "This is how I get my point across, pun _definitely_ intended! Behold, the legendary weapon _Pillow Talk!_"

"…_Pillow Talk? Really? This guy's a total nutcase!"_ Alex thought, shaking his head.

"Well, I would imagine that a man with a sword like yours…" Waka continued, gesturing to the weapon on Alex's back with his free hand, "…would be more open to the different options that such a term as 'friendly chat' implies...such as a 'friendly duel', perhaps? So what are you waiting for?"

"_Ah, dammit…looks like this guy is serious,"_ Alex thought, weighing his options._ "Nowhere to run, and he isn't going to just let me by, THAT'S for sure…but if I fight him, I just know I'm gonna regret it in some way!"_

"I'm waiting for an answer, mon ami."

"Alright, pal…you want a fight? _Well you're gonna get one then!"_ Alex asserted, reaching up and grabbing his sword, pulling it free with a satisfying _schwing!_

Waka's face immediately lit up, and he grabbed the katana at his waist with his off-hand, drawing it and swinging the two weapons around in a spinning, masterful show of swordsmanship.

(_Okami OST – Waka's Promenade_)

Ending the elaborate spins with his flute-sword parallel to his head and his katana held out in front of him in a reverse grip, he yelled, "Very well, then! _Let's rock!"_

"_No thanks, fruitcake,"_ Alex thought, readying his own weapon and immediately falling back as the Tao Master launched a sudden flurry of rapid-fire strikes at him, wielding the flute sword like a rapier while alternating attacks between it and his katana.

"_Damn! He really IS serious about this!"_ Alex thought, already forced back onto his heels as the merciless assault continued, his sword being hammered repeatedly as he concentrated fully on defending himself. Thankfully, he realized that even though Waka's sword was made of pure energy, the moonsteel of his own sword was still holding strong and therefore remaining relatively unharmed by the crackling green energy.

"Now then…" the Tao Master began, his voice remaining calm despite the battle he was engaged in. "Where exactly are you from, and what is your purpose here?"

"Screw you!" came the angry and slightly desperate response.

"Come now, is that any way to talk?" Waka responded, pressing the attack again. "Certainly you can enjoy a simple chat during our little duel?"

"_Screw…you!"_ Alex grunted, already running out of breath from blocking so many strikes.

Deciding to chance an attack of his own, to slow down Waka's attack if nothing else, Alex attempted a quick feint in order to try and throw the Tao Master's aim off and quickly followed with a lower slash of his own in an attempt to slice across his opponent's chest from the waist up. Unfortunately, Waka's defenses proved as quick as his attack, as the brightly dressed man gracefully leapt backwards and retaliated by cocking his left arm back and pitching the katana at Alex.

"Oh _shit!_" Alex quickly cursed, diving to the side in an attempt to dodge the unexpected attack…a fraction of a second too late. The lethal sword sliced into his right arm as it flew past, tearing through the fabric of his clothing and opening a large gash in his shoulder, blood beginning to pour from the wound as the sword embedded itself in the dirt path behind him.

"_Agh…dammit!"_ he thought, gritting his teeth and clutching at the wound with his free hand as his kimono sleeve began to stain red.

His arm burned terribly, but at that moment, he actually found himself thankful for the beatings he had taken on a regular basis from Oki's training. He knew that, without the pain tolerance he had begun to build up, he could have very well ended up rolling around on the ground and unwilling to keep fighting.

Looking back up at Waka, he saw the Tao Master snap the fingers of his left hand, the katana suddenly reappearing in it with its blade stained by dirt and a bit of Alex's blood.

"Round two, mon ami," he stated casually, striking another fancy fighting pose.

"_Oh great…now what?"_

* * *

><p>After finishing with his business in town, Oki had decided to go up to Konohana in order to check up on Alex and his meditation…but the last thing he was expecting was the sound of crackling energy hitting something solid.<p>

"_What IS that?" _he thought._ "It almost sounds like some kind of battle is going on up there!"_

Suddenly, he heard a shout of "Oh _shit!"_ and the sound of a blade embedding itself in something.

"Oh no…ALEX!" Oki shouted, breaking into a full-on run up the path and taking the left in the fork that would lead to the great tree, and hopefully where Alex was.

Unfortunately, his run was cut short when he suddenly collided face-first with _something,_ an invisible force that immediately repulsed him and threw him to the ground on his back.

"Wha…?" he managed to sputter, shaking the stars clear and readjusting his mask, looking up just in time to see a tightly-knit pattern of kanji symbols simply floating in midair on the path fade away.

"A demon barrier…_here?"_ he gasped out. "But how?"

Hearing the sounds of the battle up ahead, he quickly leaped back to his feet and drew his broadsword. _"I'll worry about that later," _he thought. _"I have to get through here and help Alex!"_

Raising his weapon up, he swung it with all of his might against the barrier and was thrown off balance when his sword simply bounced off of it, the glowing kanji almost appearing to mock him. Growling angrily, he raised the weapon and attacked again, focused and intent on getting through, and his efforts were rewarded with another bounce-off.

"_Curses! If only I had Kutone with me…!"_ he thought exasperatedly. Shifting to wolf form, he quickly backed up and rushed forward, smashing his thick wolf skull against the barrier in a devastatingly strong headbutt.

This time, when he managed to recover, he could swear that he saw a tiny glowing crack in the barrier, almost as if the air itself had been split by the attack.

Spurred on by this, he backed up further and rushed forward again, headbutting the barrier and subsequently being thrown off by the backlash. The crack split open even further, a fact that he noted after the stars cleared from his vision, and backing up even _further_, rushed forward and slammed into it again.

His vision went double, and he was only vaguely aware of the blood dripping out of the cut on his forehead and the sound of shattering glass as the barrier dissipated under the force of his assault. Fighting to stay conscious, he forced his vision to re-center itself and quickly dashed up the path, praying that he wasn't too late.

* * *

><p>Alex swung his weapon, trying his best to ignore the burning pain in his shoulder as he attempted to hit the Tao Master with yet another unsuccessful attack, the man leaping lightly to the side. Bringing his sword about, Alex attempted a diagonal slash and was again foiled as Waka spun his flute sword around Alex's katana in an elaborate parry, with the tip of it singing the man's exposed hand.<p>

Yelping in pain, Alex reflexively grabbed at the new wound, and in doing so, left himself open for a direct hilt-punch from the katana in Waka's left hand. The heavy strike hit him right in the sternum of his chest, causing him to stumble backwards and trip, landing flat on his back with his katana at his side.

"Hmph!" Waka snorted, tossing his head in disdain. "Simply dreadful! I am sorry to say this, mon ami, but I expected more from the student of an Oina warrior!"

Coughing violently as he fought to catch his breath, Alex rolled onto his side as blood from the gash on his arm rolled across the burn on his hand and began soaking into the silver and black criss-cross design of his sword hilt.

"Well then, now that you have been thoroughly beaten, perhaps you are a little more willing to answer my questions?"

Alex mumbled something intelligible as he struggled to get back on his feet, using the sword to push himself up.

"What was that, mon ami?" Waka asked, leaning in closer.

"I said…" Alex spat out, slowly repositioning himself, "…stop calling me that."

Waka was about to respond, when a sudden "ROWF!" split the air, and a blue-red streak rushed in between them, hitting Alex and knocking him back down as it stood in front of the man protectively.

Wolf-Oki let loose a loud and ferocious sounding growl at the blonde haired man, crouching down into a fighting stance as the sword on his back caught the sunlight and reflected the glare in a highly intimidating fashion.

"Ah, so my little barrier proved to be 'little' match for the mighty wolf warrior, eh?" Waka stated, sounding completely unsurprised as Wolf-Oki snarled at him in response. "Well, in case you didn't know, Monsieur Alex and I were having a small chat, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would allow us to finish."

"Is this true, Alex?" Wolf-Oki growled at the man behind him, never taking his eyes off of Waka.

"Look at my arm, fuzz-for-brains!" Alex retorted. "Does it look like we were _chatting_? !"

Waka was about to say something again, but a loud snarl from Wolf-Oki cut him off. "Well, I don't know where you get your nerve from, but I don't appreciate when strangers try to beat up my apprentices without me knowing!" the wolf growled.

"Are you referring to _moi_?" Waka quipped, appearing almost hurt. "Oh silly wolf…this _stranger_ is closer than you may think."

"What…? What are you talking about? !" Wolf-Oki demanded.

"Oh, nothing…" Waka said, shrugging with his weapons still held out at his sides. "Just commenting on the rather…_chilly_ reception I've been getting so far."

Alex saw Wolf-Oki's ears flatten a bit, his head drawing back in confusion at the Tao Master's words.

Slowly, the wolf's features contorted, as confusion gave way to realization.

"_It's you…"_ Wolf-Oki whispered. "I've seen you before…Lake Laochi…at the Ark with _her!_"

"Ah, very good!" Waka congratulated him, wearing that same infuriating smile.

Wolf-Oki's sudden roar was so loud, Alex actually had to cover his ears to keep from being deafened, as the cry rang far off into the distance, seeming to echo off of the very mountains themselves on the horizon.

"Where is she? !" he roared. _"Where is Amaterasu? !"_

"Calm yourself, wolf!" Waka stated, his smile gone and replaced by a stern, serious look. "My business is not with you!"

But Wolf-Oki wasn't listening, as Alex could clearly see. The normal golden hue of his eyes had given way to a stark blood red, each heaving breath came out as a ferocious growl, and even the corner of his muzzle was beginning to drip saliva as his fury grew to unprecedented levels.

"_Holy shit…" _he thought. Alex had never seen Oki this mad before, or anyone else for that matter, but he didn't need to be told that the Wolf Warrior was _seriously _pissed off_._

"_Where is she? !"_ he roared again, taking a step towards Waka, looking like he was about to lunge for the Tao Master's throat with the intent of tearing it out.

"Hmm…perhaps it is time I take my leave," Waka mused. With a smooth measured movement, he sheathed his katana while his flute sword seemed to dissipate on its own. "Farewell, Monsieur Alex! I look forward to our next encounter…preferably with fewer distractions!"

Wolf-Oki chose that moment to lunge forward, but the Tao Master proved to be too quick for him as well, quickly leaping into the air and up and over the rise, coming to a rest at the very top of it.

"Oh! One more thing, Monsieur Alex!" he called down. "I have a little something for you…a little prophecy that you may be interested in hearing!"

"_What? Did he just say a 'prophecy'?"_

Whipping his flute from side to side while spinning around with dramatic flair, Waka triumphantly stated, "The quick warrior shall always prevail! The webs of chaos will only ensnare the one who _waits for himself to be caught!"_

Apparently finished, Waka recomposed himself and said, "You'll know what I'm talking about when the time comes! Until next time…farewell!"

Disappearing behind the top of the rise, the Tao Master vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

"_Great…"_ Alex thought. "_Not only does he dress and act fruity, but he's a complete basket case too. Almost like some kind of…fruit-basket! _

Stifling the urge to laugh, he thought, "_HA! Fruit-basket! That's great! I gotta remember that one!"_

However, his mirth was cut short when he saw Oki, every muscle in the wolf's body tensed up and his eyes still carrying the same, furious look as he stared at the spot where Waka had disappeared.

"Uh…Oki?" he asked gingerly, careful not to set off the potential powder keg. "He's gone…you can calm down now."

There was a suddenly blast of cold air as Oki transformed back into his human form and suddenly leaped towards the wall, jumping against it and leaping higher and higher, using his re-acquired hands to grab the ledge where Waka had stood and clamber over it, disappearing behind the rise as quickly as Waka had.

"Hey, Oki! Where're you going? _OKI!"_ Alex shouted after the Oina man, but his calls went unanswered.

"_What's gotten into him?"_ he thought. He briefly considered going after the two of them, but after feeling another sting of pain from his wounded shoulder, he decided against it and instead headed down the path, shaking his head and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

* * *

><p>When he reached the village, he realized that his arm was still bleeding somewhat profusely, and avoiding the other villagers and their looks of concern, headed straight for Ishi's home with the intent of getting a bandage, and maybe some answers as well. Reaching the door, he steeled himself and went inside, immediately spotting the dark-dressed elderly woman grinding ingredients together in a pestle and mortar.<p>

Looking up as he came in, she immediately spotted the bleeding cut on his shoulder and dropped what she was doing, coming over to him and pushing his hand out of the way to get a better look at the injury.

"How did this happen, child?" she asked, her look of concern not lost on Alex even through her veil.

"I…uh…fell down and scraped my shoulder on an exposed rock, when heading down the path from Konohana," he lied, watching as she went over to one of her shelves and grabbed off a roll of bandaging cloth.

"That is quite the serious cut for a simple fall…it looks like it could have been made by a sword!" she said, having him remove his overcoat and roll up his sleeve.

"Now hold still, I can have this wrapped in an instant," she said. Even though the age in her wiry, veiny hands was easily apparent, her movements were both quick and practiced as she quickly cleaned off the wound and began wrapping the bandage around it. Kushi's comment on the elderly woman being handy with a bandage had apparently not been far from the truth.

As she worked, Alex decided to ask her if she knew anything about a "blonde-haired man wearing a brightly colored outfit, carrying a flute, and acting a bit on the 'odd' side."

Stopping her work, Ishi looked up at him and said, "That is a somewhat…odd description, child. Why would you ask me something like this?"

"Oh, I…uh…I heard something about a guy that looked like that in…in a story. I don't quite remember what it was called," he made up.

"Ahh…that would explain it then," she said, smiling as she continued wrapping his arm. "You must have heard something from the legend about the fabled Moon Tribe."

"Moon Tribe?"

"Yes…" she began. "The legend tells about a civilization…a civilization of humans, each with hair the color of golden wheat, who somehow discovered the means to both travel to and establish a mighty empire on the great celestial body itself. None know how they did it, but all who have heard the legend know that they must have been very powerful and very wise in order to do so."

"But as I said…it is only a legend, based on superstitions and so-called 'sightings'," she continued. "None truly know if humans had ever found a way to live on the moon."

"How do you know all this?" he asked.

"I have traveled Nippon for many years, child, and have learned many things during that time. You are not the first to ask Old Ishi for her knowledge, and certainly not the last."

Finishing up, she tied off the bandage and cleaned her hands off. "All done," she stated. "Do not try to move your arm too much in the next few days, or you may open the wound up again."

"Wow…that was fast," he said, looking at her handiwork. "It feels a lot better now…thanks."

"Think nothing of it, child," she said, smiling and showing off her missing teeth. Standing up, she said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I must grind this medicine before the herbs lose their freshness. Please, try to be more careful in the future, child."

"Oh, don't worry about that," he said, thanking her again before turning and heading out the door. Taking note of the lack of pain in his arm, he nodded and began walking back to his and Oki's house.

"_Huh…guess she's not that creepy after all,"_ he thought. _"And she did a great job too…but what she said about this 'Moon Tribe'…"_

Deciding not to put too much thought into it, he pushed open his door and walked inside, noticing that Oki things were still there, minus the Oina man himself.

"_What was his deal, anyways?_" he thought._ "I've never seen anyone get so mad before…he must REALLY want to know where this 'Amaterasu' is. Well, guess there's nothing to do but wait until he gets back…"_

And so Alex waited…and waited…and continued to wait, as the hours dragged by and the sun dipped below the horizon. And still no sign of the Oina man.

Keeping himself entertained by going through the motions with his sword, Alex went back over the events that had transpired on the path from Konohana, replaying the Tao Master's parting words over and over in his head.

_The quick warrior shall always prevail! The webs of chaos will only ensnare the one who waits for himself to be caught!_

"_What the hell did he mean by that?" _ he thought for the hundredth time, stabbing forward in a practice lunge. _"The swift warrior, and the one who waits for himself to be caught…god, I'm gonnna go crazy over thinking about this!"_

Stopping his practice, he shook his head and sheathed his sword on his back. _"I'm going out for a walk…maybe Oki is back and he's with Susano again. If not, it should at least clear my head of that damn 'prophecy'."_

Heading out the door into the warm night, Alex realized that it was already very late and that everyone in the village was likely at home sleeping right now. Shrugging to himself, he slowly walked down the path in the general direction of Susano and Kushi's home, idly kicking a loose stone along as he went.

"_Friggin' weirdo…"_ he thought to himself, grumbling slightly. _"I can't get the image of his stupid flying pirouette out of my head now."_

Passing over the bridge and heading through the main section of the village, Alex suddenly stopped when he heard voices…whispering voices.

"_Keep quiet, and hand me that stupid case!"_

"_Oh, I'll hand it to you, alright!"_

"_OOF! You idiot! Do you WANT to end up like Petey did? !"_

"_That stupid idiot got what he deserved! Raiding the village head-on through the front gate…what a moron!"_

"_Uh-oh…" _Alex thought. _"Those sound like imps! They must be raiding the village again!"_ Breaking into as a quiet a run as he could manage, he came up on Susano's and Kushi's large house and, after a second of searching, saw a group of hunched-over shadows milling around behind it, near a window where another shadow leaned out and handed over a wooden case filled with clay sake urns.

Falling into a crouch and hiding behind a nearby bush, Alex heard one of them cackling softly, whispering, _"Oh boy, oh boy! This is a huge haul! We'll be partying for a _week_ with all this sake!"_

Alex counted at least eight of them on the outside of the house at least, a significant portion of the group that he and Oki had spotted camped out in front of the Tsuta Ruins. Several of them were hefting wooden cases, with one or more inside handing them out to the ones whose arms were still free.

"_Crap…they're stealing Kushi's sake again,"_ he realized._ "Question is, do I run in and try to fight them off? I know it's Kushi's livelihood and all, but risking my life for alcohol doesn't exactly seem like the smartest thing to do!"_

Puzzling over what to do, he almost missed the next item that was handed out of the window, and the surprised gasps of all the imps in tow.

"_Whoa…"_ one of them whispered, gawking at the cloth-wrapped bundle that the window imp was carrying. _"Is that…?"_

"_That's right!" _the window imp stated triumphantly, but quietly. _"The one and only son of Sake-Brewer Kushi herself!"_

Surprised whispers ran through the group. _"No way! How'd you get the kid away from them without them noticing?"_

"_Oh, I have my ways…" _the window imp stated, clambering out of the window as gently as he could. _"The little guy is sleeping nice and quietly…didn't even wake up when I grabbed him!"_

"_Ok…so what do we do with him then?"_

"_Simple! We give him to Queenie! If she likes him, more power to us!"_

"_Likes him as what? A snack?"_

"_Maybe…but I heard from a buddy of mine stationed inside the ruins that Queenie's been muttering to herself about wanting kids of her own…so maybe she'll take this kid and raise him like her own! Maybe even make him into a loyal little thrall or something! And if she doesn't like him…he'll make a great snack at least!"_

"_Brilliant! Genius! Great Idea!"_ came the chorus of congratulatory whispers, as the window imp handed the baby off to one of the other imps in the group.

"_Ok…that tears it,"_ Alex thought, and drawing his sword without a second thought, charged from his hiding place in the bushes, his sword catching the moonlight and glowing a bright blue once again.

"_What th-!"_

"_We've been spotted! Grab what you can and go! GO!" _one of them whisper-yelled, pushing at his comrades as they hurriedly scooped up their crates and the cloth-wrapped bundle that was Kuni, tearing off towards the exit to Shinshu Fields.

"_Damn, they run fast!" _Alex thought, picking up his own pace. _"Can't let them reach the forest edge or I'll lose them for sure!"_

Running through the small pass and coming out into the fields of wind-swept grass, Alex spotted them barely through the moonlight, scampering away at top speed across the rolling hills. Cursing over how much of a lead they had gotten, Alex took off after them, praying that he could catch them before they got too far away.

He didn't know if his prayers had suddenly been answered or not, but he saw one of the imps suddenly trip over an exposed rock and fall flat on its face, spilling out the contents of its crate on the ground.

Alex, deciding to take advantage of this, broke into a full-on sprint, quickly closing the distance between him and the imp as it hurriedly scrambled to gather up as much of its loot as possible, its greed getting the better of its judgment. Picking up the refilled crate, it was just about to break into a run again when Alex slammed into it in a flying tackle, both of them falling to the ground and rolling about, trading punches and kicks as they brawled.

One thing Alex quickly realized, though, was they he was much stronger and heavier than the one imp. Gaining the advantage in their grapple, Alex managed to pin it to the ground and immediately let fly with his fist, beating the living daylights out of it with one hammering blow after another, until it stopped trying to block his punches.

Breathing heavily and sporting a few bruises, Alex got off of the imp and saw that it was still breathing as well, but clearly unconscious from the beating it had taken from the man's fist of fury.

"Still going, huh?" he said between gasps. "Well, I'll fix that quickly enough." Retrieving his sword, which he had dropped when he tackled the imp, he held it to the demon's throat, as the metal continued to glow.

He stood there for a full minute, his sword tip still pointed at the unconscious imp's throat…

…and he realized that he couldn't do it. He couldn't finish it off.

"Ah, _dammit!"_ he cursed out loud, lowering the weapon. "Looks like it's your lucky day, pal. I just hope you realize someday how lucky you _really_ are."

Sheathing the weapon, he looked in the direction where the other imp's had gone, and noted with some dismay that they had already disappeared, clearly having already gone beyond the borders of Agata Forest.

"Crap…" he muttered in disappointment. _"Looks like I'm gonna have to break the news to Kushi and Susano…but how the hell am I supposed to do that? 'Oh, sorry Kushi and Susano, but your son's been kidnapped and might either end up as demon food or a minion of the darkness. Sorry for your loss!' Yeah, that'll TOTALLY work…real smooth, Alex."_

Looking back down at the unconscious imp at his feet, pondered just what he should do with it…and almost on cue, Waka's prophecy came back to the forefront of his mind.

_The quick warrior shall always prevail! The webs of chaos will only ensnare the one who waits for himself to be caught!_

"_Hmm…" _ he thought, an idea beginning to form in his head. _"Maybe I _won't _have to break it to them."_

Bending down and scooping up the unconscious demon in his arms, surprised by just how light its body was, Alex began tromping back to the village.

"_Sorry pal…"_ he thought. _"…but you're not done yet. You're coming with me."_

* * *

><p><strong>Oooo, looks like things are heating up a bit! And I don't know why, but I kinda liked writing down that bit with Alex punching out that imp...maybe its because I always see them as little punching bags...*coughs*<strong>

**Alex: "Well, I know I enjoyed it! Don't forget to rate and review!"**

**Me: Hey! I'm supposed to say that! -.-**


	12. Omens

**Busy, busy, busy! Friends, homework, and...*shot***

**Anyway, I'm back again. Again, sorry about late updates and all that. Friends coming out of the woodwork and homework up the butt from college will do that.**

**But forget that...here's a nice big chapter to keep you all busy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Omens<strong>

As the sun crested on the horizon and daybreak arrived, Oki slowly trudged back into Kamiki, head hung low more from low spirits than exhaustion. He had spent the better part of yesterday afternoon and night trying to track down the man who had last seen Amaterasu, but it seemed that he was destined to fail in that regard. He had followed him deep into the wildlands, tracking him by the bright pink sheen of his shirt, but the man had proven extremely fast, evading the Oina Warrior until nightfall. Once the moon had risen and the stars had come out, Oki had realized that he had lost sight of the Tao Master and had tried to relocate him through scent. Unfortunately, that was where the trail had run cold for him, because no matter how hard he had tried, he couldn't seem to pick up the scent, as though the man didn't even _have _one.

It was with a heavy heart that the once-proud Wolf Warrior decided to return to Kamiki, plans of leaving the village already forming in his head as he wondered whether Alex would decide to come or not.

One way or another, he would find that man again…and force him to reveal Amaterasu's whereabouts.

As he passed through the entrance and into the village, he spotted a large group of people clustered around Susano and Kushi's home, the volume of raised voices reaching his ears.

"_Odd…what is all the commotion about?"_ he thought, striding up to the crowd as he began to listen.

"Susano, I can understand that you're angry, but you must calm down and _think about this!"_ Oki heard Mr. Orange plead, as he spotted the elderly man and the gruff warrior in the center of the crowd, Kushi behind the latter and trying desperately to calm him down. Tapping Gizo on the shoulder, Oki asked him what had happened.

"It was the imps," the blacksmith informed him. "They made another raid last night, and made off with Kushi's sake, one of the horses from the stables, and even my best suit of armor!"

"_Hmm…"_ Oki thought. "_Sake I can understand…but a horse, and a suit of armor? That doesn't seem right."_

"That's not all…there's something else as well," the blacksmith continued, directing Oki's gaze to the three people in the center.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? !" he heard Susano bellow, furiously mad as he towered over the frail form of Mr. Orange, as Kushi tried to hold him back. "There's no time for calming down! We must act NOW!"

"We _can't!_ If you rush in there headlong, you're only going to get yourself killed! What are you going to do if-!"

"I don't care what happens to me! _HE'S MY SON, FOR THE BRUSH GODS' SAKE!"_ the bigger man bellowed, forcing Mr. Orange back.

The argument continued, but Oki didn't hear it, having already turned to make his way to his and Alex's house.

Sake, a horse, a suit of armor, and Kuni had all been stolen away during the night from what he had gathered, and Alex was nowhere to be seen in the crowd. As his walk turned into a run, Oki prayed that the young man hadn't done what he was thinking right now.

Bursting in through the front door, he looked into Alex's room and saw it completely empty, devoid of his sword, overcoat, and even the small bag of glass shards from the orb that he had carried.

Cursing his luck for leaving the village and Alex unattended for that particular night, Oki immediately turned tail and went back outside, again making his way towards the crowd where it looked like the argument was still going.

"_Enough of this!"_ he heard Susano bellow. "I'm going after my son, and _that's final!_ If anyone here considers themselves man enough to help me, then speak up! Otherwise, _I'm leaving NOW!"_

No one spoke up.

"Please! Won't _someone_ help us?" Kushi wailed, on the verge of tears. "He's our only child!"

"Fear not," Oki stated, pushing through the crowd and coming up to them. "It appears that someone has already taken up your plea…Alex has gone missing."

A surprised rush of whispering went through the crowd around them.

"Wha…you mean that shrimpy student of yours went after the imps?" Susano said. "How do you know?"

"I would say coincidence…a suit of armor is missing, is that correct?" Oki asked, turning to Gizo who nodded in return.

"Tell me blacksmith…how heavy was that stolen armor?"

"Not too heavy, since I crafted it to be perfectly balanced…but heavy enough that someone untrained at wearing heavy armor could quickly tire out from taking even a short hike in it," the blacksmith slowly replied, suddenly catching on. "Heavy enough that riding a horse would seem like a _much_ better option!"

"Susano!" Oki suddenly said, turning to the Kamiki Warrior. "Grab your weapon! I'm coming with you!

* * *

><p>There was a loud groan, as the imp slowly opened its eyes and blearily took note of its surroundings.<p>

As far as it could tell, it was back in Agata forest, lying on its back in the center of a small clearing and looking up into the thick canopy of the surrounding trees.

"Errgh…" it groaned again. "Must've drunken too much sake last night…not surprising…that was a _big_ haul we got. Last thing I remember…I think some human was beating my brains out…"

Moving to sit up, it suddenly realized that it couldn't move its arms.

"Eh? What's going…on…?" it trailed off, as it looked up and saw that its torso and arms were wrapped several times around by a thick length of iron chain. Across the clearing from it, it could see a horse grazing nonchalantly on a small patch of grass, taking no notice of the imp as it ate.

Suddenly, it heard the clomping of heavy boots through the forest, coming its way. Beginning to panic, the imp struggled wildly, trying to free itself as the sound grew louder.

A large figure came into the clearing, wearing heavy samurai armor of the purest silvery-grey color that the imp had ever seen, worn over thick, black-dyed leather padding. Its face was obscured by a smooth faceplate that bore no markings or designs whatsoever, topped off by a thick and imposing kabuto-style helmet that left only the eyes of the figure to be seen by the world. Across its back was an old, but still dangerous looking katana, which the figure slowly reached up and drew out upon seeing the imp.

With a terrified shriek, the imp began pumping its legs as fast as it could, trying to scoot away from the intimidating figure as it stalked towards it.

"P-p-please! Please don't hurt me!" it begged.

Reaching down, its thick metal gauntlet clamped around the neck of its green shirt and lifted it up, looking the terrified imp in the "eye"…

…and promptly setting it back down on its feet.

"Good. You're awake, and from the sound of it, you don't have any brain damage. Now we can get started," the figure said with a masculine voice, sheathing his sword. Grabbing a loose end of the chain that was wrapped around the imp, he brought it over to the horse and began wrapping it around one of the saddle straps.

"W-w-what're you g-going to do w-with me?" the still-frightened imp stammered, shaking with fear where it stood.

"It's not what I'm going to do to you…it's what _you're _going to do for _me_," the man replied.

"W-what?"

Securing the chain's hold on the saddle, the armored man turned back to the imp and said, "I saw you and your buddies kidnap a little baby boy last night…the son of 'Sake Brewer Kushi' herself, as they said. Kuni was his name. If I'm right, your friends took him to the ruins in this forest…and you're going to help me find those ruins."

"_W-what? !_ But…but you're a _human!_ I can't help you!"

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because…because they'll kill me if they find out that I helped you!"

The man remained silent for a moment, and then stalked back over to the imp, causing it to take a step back in fear as he looked it in the "eye" again.

"Yeah…and I'll kill you if you _don't_ help me," he said, narrowing his eyes. "So what's it gonna be? You gonna take a chance with me, and hope that your buddies don't find out? Or am I going to have to ruin the cleaning job I just did on my sword here?"

The imp stood there, shaking in fear for a moment, and then let out a sad sounding _"Keeeeeee…"_ as it lowered its head in submission.

"I'll take that as a yes to the former," the armored man said. Walking over to his horse, he attempted to hoist himself onto it and failed, his armored boot slipping off the foothold and causing him to fall roughly against the horse's side. Muttering angrily to himself, he let out a grunt as he doubled his efforts and managed to heave himself up over the top, flopping down and squirming to get his leg over the horse's back.

After a minute of struggling, he finally situated himself in the saddle and prodded the horse into a slow walk with his boot heel, the chain-wrapped imp being forced to follow like a dog on a leash. Giving the imp a good kick as it came level with them, the armored man made it take the lead so that the horse would follow it to wherever the ruins were.

As he rode along, the imp letting out a sad moan as it continued walking, the armored man briefly reflected on the most recent events that he had experienced…

* * *

><p><em>Several hours earlier…<em>

Hoisting the unconscious imp in his arms, the first place Alex paid a visit to was the blacksmith's hut. Several days of living in the village had shown Alex that Gizo, while spending most of his day in the hut, actually had a separate house that he lived in across the village. He claimed that it was so he could get away from the heat of the forge, and from his own experience, Alex believed him without a doubt.

Fortunately, that made the young man's job easier for what he was planning to do, as he came to a stop in front of the door to the hut, setting the imp down against the outer wall. Close examination revealed that the door was secured by an iron chain with a heavy padlock on the front, barring access to the hut while Gizo was away. It wasn't that he didn't believe in the honesty and decency of the villagers…it was meant more to keep the raiding imps out, so that they wouldn't be able to arm themselves with his own weapons that lined the walls inside.

Testing the durability of the chain, Alex tugged on it with all his might and quickly concluded that it was fastened on tight. Taking a quick look around to check if no one was watching, Alex reached back and drew out his sword, holding it up to the moon which immediately caused the silvery metal to start glowing blue.

"_Let's see if it works the same with moonlight as it does with demon blood,"_ he thought, positioning the sword's edge over a link of the chain.

Taking a deep breath and holding it in, he raised the weapon up and sliced down as hard as he could.

There was a loud _'ching!'_, and his sword's progress stopped dead against the resistance of the metal chain, jarring his teeth. Shaking his head to clear it, Alex looked closely at the chain and saw that the sword had actually bit halfway through one of the links and stuck in the second half, necessitating the need for another well-aimed hit.

"_Well, THAT'S no surprise…metal _is _a lot harder than an imp's body, after all,"_ he thought, pulling on the sword as he tried to wrench it free. _"Still seems to be pretty sharp…just not sharp enough to _completely_ cut through metal. Gotta remember that."_

Bracing himself, Alex made another attempt, and managed to hit his target again, slicing through the link and granting him access to the blacksmith's hut. Sheathing the weapon and picking the still unconscious imp up, he carried it in and closed the door behind him.

The first thing Alex did after setting the imp down was search for a suitable length of something that he could use to tie up the imp. For his plan to work, he needed the imp conscious and aware of its surroundings, which meant that he needed something to keep it from running off once it woke up. Finding a spare and decently long length of chain in a nearby corner, Alex grabbed it up and wrapped the imp up several times, wedging the loose end under the chain loops so that it wouldn't unwind.

Once he was done with that, Alex turned to his _real_ reason for being here…the masterfully crafted suit of silvery-grey samurai armor that Gizo had told him about. Staring at it as it rested on the display dummy, he put his hands on his hips as he considered what he was about to do.

This was more than just stealing a cooked rabbit…this time, it was practically downright robbery, and Alex had never committed a serious crime in his life. Still, he was doing it for his own good…he had figured out a while ago that rescuing Kuni from a horde of imps by himself would necessitate the need for some _serious_ protection, and Alex had figured that the best place to start would be a suit of armor.

Not only that, but he realized that if he was going to steal a suit of armor, it might as well be the best one available to him. Sighing loudly to himself, Alex grabbed off the helmet and loosely plopped it on his head as he began to grab off other pieces of armor and the leather padding beneath.

After at least an hour of properly adjusting his current outfit so that it didn't get in the way of the armor, followed by a lot of twisting, fidgeting, and cursing under his breath, Alex finally managed to slip on the last gauntlet, finishing the entire set of armor…and already having second thoughts. He realized now that the armor weighed a _freaking_ _ton_, and every step that he took in it felt incredibly weighed down like he had weights attached to his feet. Not only that, but it was pinching him in all the wrong places, making him certain that he had buckled up wrong somewhere along the line.

Still, he couldn't deny the sense of power and absolute protection the armor afforded him. Taking a look in a nearby mirror, which he suspected Gizo kept on hand so that prospective customers could examine themselves in one of his suits of armor, he realized that even with the horrendous job he had likely done putting the armor on, he looked like a total _badass._

Almost every inch of his body was shielded by the silvery-grey metal, leaving the obvious unguarded spots open to allow for limb movement. Where there wasn't armor, there was a thick, black-dyed layer of leather padding, meant to reduce chafing from the metal plates and provide additional protection. Literally on top of all that rested the kabuto-style helmet, the large V-shaped piece of metal attached to the front of it sticking up, and the perfectly smooth, unadorned, leather-backed faceplate across his face. Only his eyes were visible, staring back at him from a man that he hardly recognized now.

Nodding to himself in satisfaction, the metal plates rustling in response to his movements, he walked around for a minute to familiarize himself with the armor's feel, before grabbing his sword that he had set aside and slipping it over the broad chest plate of his armor. The silken cording attached to the sheath had to be adjusted to accommodate for his 'larger' chest, but once done, the sheath was held snugly against his back, no longer clacking around as he walked.

Carefully exiting the building and taking the imp over to his and Oki's house, Alex peeked in again to see if the Oina man had returned yet, but still saw no sign of his presence. Quickly walking in, Alex grabbed his small bag of glass shards and tied the drawstring to one of the waist-level buckles on his armor. He didn't really know why he wanted to bring it with him…but he figured that it could at least serve as some kind of good luck charm or something.

"_Speaking of luck…"_ he thought, going outside and looking up at the path towards Konohana. _"I could really use some right now."_ Making sure the imp was secure and still unconscious, Alex headed up the path towards the great tree as fast as the armor would allow him, and soon found himself before the statue of Nagi, the mighty cherry tree seeming to glow with a bright pink aura against the stark blackness of the surrounding night.

Bending down to one knee, rather awkwardly thanks to the armor, Alex mulled over things a bit in his head before he said, "Well…I'm not the kind of guy who usually prays…and hell, you probably don't even know me that well. But…if you're listening Nagi, and you're really there…I could _really_ use some help with this. I don't know what the hell I'm getting myself into, and I must be crazy for doing this…but, just a little something to boost my confidence would be nice. That's all I'm asking for."

He continued to kneel there, unmoving, waiting for something to happen. And something did.

He felt the wind shift again…heard wind chimes in the distance.

Looking behind himself, he once again spotted the beautiful young woman in the cherry pink kimono, standing there and watching him…except this time, there wasn't a smile on her face. It was more of a look of deep concern, worry lines etched into her otherwise smooth face.

"You seek the blessing of Nagi…of Konohana, so that you may go after the child that the shadow of evil has stolen away," she remarked, walking up to him as he stood and turned the rest of the way around to face her.

"It is an interesting thing…" she continued. "You have hardly known the people of this village for more than several days, yet already you are willing to risk your life for them…for the life of a child?"

"Well…yeah. What else can I do, wait for someone else to show up? The kid'll be dead or worse by then," Alex replied.

Nodding solemnly, she said, "Your willingness for such an act speaks volumes about yourself, Alexander Grey. The fact that you are willing to risk your life for strangers and mere acquaintances shows that you not only have a kind and generous spirit, but a valorous and courageous one as well. Nagi recognizes these traits in people…especially in those with the Spirit of the True Warrior, which I know you have been told about. He has heard your prayers, and wishes to offer his help."

"How?" he asked.

"With this…" she said. Reaching out and taking his hand, she held it in front of her and placed her own on top of it, keeping it there for a moment as she briefly closed her eyes.

Opening them back up after a moment, she removed her hand, and Alex let out a small gasp in surprise.

Resting in his hand was an absolutely _perfect_ cherry blossom; each of its petals were perfectly formed and evenly spaced out, and it glowed with the same bright aura that the rest of the tree did in the night.

The woman closed his hand around it with her own, and the cherry blossom closed along with it, wrapping itself up tightly as though it had un-bloomed itself. He quickly realized that it was for safely traveling with it, and kept it gripped in his hand as he looked at her questioningly.

"Know that, no matter what comes of this, you carry the blessing of Nagi, and of Konohana with you," she told him, stepping back. "There will be many tests on the road ahead, but I have a feeling that you will succeed, Alexander…and so does Nagi."

"Wait…one question before I go…" he said. "Just who are you?"

Cherry petals began to gather around her as the wind picked up, and Alex squinted as her form began to disappear.

"I am Sakuya, Guardian of Kamiki and of Konohana," she stated. "I have protected this village for one hundred years, and I hope that I may protect it for a hundred more with brave souls like you around."

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST: Shutsujin_)

"Go now, Alexander Grey!" he heard her say. "Rescue Kuni! Bring peace back to Kamiki! And may the fresh scent of flowers protect you on your journey!"

With a blast of flower-scented air, she vanished, leaving only a small cloud of lingering cherry petals behind.

Looking down at the wrapped-up blossom in his hand, his questioning look turned to one of stoic determination, the doubt and fear in his heart quickly fading away as he realized what he was to do.

Nodding grimly to himself, he stashed the blossom in the small pouch at his waist and bolted down the path back to where the imp still was. Hoisting it over his shoulder, the armor rustled in response as he hustled across to the opposite end the village to where the stables were, pulling out his sword with his free hand and chopping off the much lighter chain that was securing it with a single swing, promptly kicking the large door open and startling the horses inside. Their loud whinnies were sure to wake up some of the people in the village, he realized, but that didn't matter to him right now.

He was ready and rearing to go, and nothing was going to slow him down now. He had a job to do, and he was sure as hell going to see it through.

Fortunately, his childhood upbringing in the California countryside had introduced him to farm horses at an early age, and as a result, he knew a thing or two about properly readying a horse for travel. Grabbing a saddle off of a nearby rack, he threw it over a nearby horse and set to work buckling the leather straps together, after calming the beast down enough due to its fright over smelling the nearby imp. Finishing quickly, Alex threw the imp over the back of the saddle and secured it with the chain, even as he began to hear shouts of alarm coming from the village behind them, and quickly struggled his way up onto the large animal's back himself.

Grabbing the reins, he had a brief moment of hesitation, as he realized that he was on the brink of possible the stupidest and most dangerous decision of his life.

Shaking his head in exasperation, he thought, _"Point of no return…well, here goes NOTHING!"_

Snapping the reins, Alex launched the horse into an immediate run, the animal slamming through the already open door and tearing off into the night, the sounds of the waking village quickly fading behind him.

Alex fought to hang on at first; having actually not ridden a horse for several years, there was a lot of rust on his horse-riding skills, but he managed to keep his grip as the horse bolted through the small pass and out into Shinshu Fields, its hooves thudding powerfully against the ground.

It would be some time before he reached the forest at this rate, and the feel of the heavy armor bearing down on his shoulders, the sword against his back, and the still unconscious imp draped across the saddle behind him made him somewhat nervous, but the determination that had brought him this far quickly overrode it.

He wasn't going to stop now. Not by a longshot.

* * *

><p>Coming out of his thoughts, Alex adjusted the horse's course as they came into a particularly marshy area, the large pools of water forming small islands. The imp stalled a bit, its breathing growing a bit more hurried as it knew that they were getting close, but a sharp kick from Alex's armored boot got it moving again, the imp slowly trudging across the more shallow parts of the water while Alex's horse followed suit.<p>

As they moved through the marsh, the chitters of various insects reaching his ears, Alex pondered what he would do when they finally reached the campsite of the imp and the doors to the ruins behind it. If they were as drunk as the last time he and Oki had seen them, then he figured that they wouldn't be such a challenge, even though they outnumbered him tremendously.

If they were sober, however, then the odds would be a little more even. But even so, Alex wasn't _too_ worried…his marathon training sessions with Oki over the past few days had done much to improve his skill with the sword, and now he was confident that he could at least handle a group of imps by himself.

Still, even the best-laid plans could go wrong, and now Alex wasn't too sure if he was taking the safest route by going after the baby by himself.

"_Maybe I _should_ have waited for Oki…"_ he thought, ignoring the imp's shriek as it suddenly fell into pool of water deeper than it had realized, coughing and sputtering as it came up and kicked its way over to dry ground and squirmed its way out of the water.

"_No…I'm doing the right thing here,"_ he thought determinedly, re-convincing himself. _"It'll be tough, getting through all those imps…but that kid needs help, and I'm the only one available right now."_

They kept going, for at least another half hour Alex estimated, and before long, he realized that the imp's steps were slowing down. Examining it, Alex saw by its body language that the imp was becoming extremely nervous, the demon's body tensing up the further they walked, before it eventually stopped altogether.

"T-t-there…the ruins are there," it said, pointing forward with its hand. Looking forward, through the thick brush that filled the spaces between the trees of Agata Forest, Alex could just barely make out the overgrowth of vines on the top part of the tall stones doors that consisted of the entrance to the ruins in the far distance.

"Looks like it…now keep going," he said.

"B-b-but...my friends are up ahead!" it stammered. "If they see me with you, they'll-!"

The imp breathing suddenly increased to a rapid pace, far faster than what was healthy, and it swayed about unsteadily before collapsing face-first into the ground.

Alex sighed, shaking his head as he realized that the imp had hyperventilated and passed out, and hopped off his horse, going over to the demon and starting to untie it from the chains.

"Looks like that's all I'll need for now, buddy," he said to it. "When you wake up, I'll be long gone, and so will your buddies if they try to stop me."

Finishing up, he removed the last loop and stood up, dropping the chain to the ground. "Just remember what happened today…and go easy on the sake, alright?" he chided, shaking his head as he remembered the scene with the group of imps stumbling around drunkenly several nights ago.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted when the imp suddenly jumped up and threw a punch at him, its fist going right under the waist-piece of armor around his thighs and connecting solidly with his crotch.

With a loud _whoof,_ Alex doubled over and collapsed to his hands and knees, holding himself as he fought to catch his breath. The horse he had ridden here whinnied loudly at the sudden commotion, rearing up and bolting off into the forest. The tricky imp, however, had plans of its own, quickly grabbing at the hilt of the sword on Alexs back with an evil chatter of glee, the deadly weapon now within easy reach.

However, its cackle was suddenly replaced by a loud shriek, and looking up, Alex saw it stumbling backwards while clutching at its hand…

…a hand that was on fire. _Blue fire_.

"Tricky…little…son-of-a…!" Alex managed to groan out, deciding not to care at the moment as he struggled to stand back up. The imp in the meantime had sought out the nearest water hole, and leapt in with a _splash_, extinguishing the fire that had encased its hand. Climbing back out, clutching at the burned appendage, the imp gave one glace at the armored man and immediately turned and tore off towards the brush, shrieking as loudly as it could in a clear warning to its companions up ahead.

It got within five feet of the brush, before a loud _'WHAM!' _cut its cries off.

Finally getting back to his feet, bent over at the waist and cursing the fact that every hostile enemy in this crazy-ass land always seemed to be aiming for his crotch, Alex looked over and saw something familiar.

A pink-shirted man was standing on top of a very crumpled imp, his tall wooden sandals digging into its back as it tried to weakly crawl away.

There was a loud _fzzzt_ as a green beam of energy appeared in the man's hand and swung downward, slicing into the imp and silencing it…_permanently._

Straightening out and stepping sideways off of the imp, Tao Master Waka brushed his shirt off with his free hand while dissipating his flute sword and bringing it to his lips, playing a quick, lilting tune on it while Alex slowly recovered from his "debilitating" injury.

Finishing up the quick song, Waka brought the flute down to his side and placed his free hand on his waist, striking a jaunty pose.

"We meet again, mon ami," he said calmly.

"Oh great…" Alex muttered, not bothering to hide his disappointment. "Not you again!"

(_Okami OST – Enter Waka_)

"Yes! It is I!" the Tao Master declared, spinning around and swinging his flute with great flair like he had back in Kamiki Village. "Waka, the gods' gift to man, is here! _Bonjour!_"

Finishing his little spin, Waka crossed his arms again and said, "So…it seems my little prophecy about you is coming true as we speak! I applaud you for showing such initiative, Monsieur Alex!"

"The hell you talking about, fruit man?" Alex spat at him.

"Why, how the quick warrior shall always prevail!" Waka stated matter-of-factly. "Surely you didn't think that I was only referring just to pure _speed_, did you?"

Pacing back and forth, Waka continued. "Speed in battle is important, of course, but sometimes, you merely have to be the first to _act_, and show the best initiative! By coming out here immediately by yourself, instead of waiting for others, you have shown the superior initiative and proven that you are indeed a quick warrior! One who will not simply stand by and wait to be ensnared by the webs of chaos!"

"Wow! That's really interesting!" Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But you forgot one little thing…_I don't give a damn!_ Right now, there's a little kid stuck in those ruins, and if I don't get him out _now_, things are going to get really bad for him!"

"Perhaps…but there are still a few things that you have yet to learn, Monsieur Alex," Waka stated. "You plan to simply rush in, swinging that sword of yours around, hoping that armor of yours will allow you to last long enough to make it to the child, in hopes that he still lives? Such a tactic has gotten finer men than yourself killed, Monsieur Alex. How do you even plan to get past the doors in the first place? Bash them open with your head?"

"Well…I…uh…I'm making this up as I go, ok? !" Alex retorted.

"As I thought," the Tao Master replied, tossing his hair. "One thing you shall soon learn, Monsieur Alex…brute force may open some doors, but knowledge itself can be a _skeleton key._"

Reaching into his shirt, Waka produced what looked like some kind of odd-looking, peach-shaped glass sculpture, a small design painted on its side.

"This, mon ami, is the key to the Tsuta Ruins, which I took the liberty of…er…_liberating_ from the hands of the imps in front of the door…as well as a few of their hands in the process," he chuckled, giving Alex a shrewd wink.

"A key? Well give it here, then!" Alex said, stepping forward.

(_Okami OST – Fighting Waka_)

As if on cue, Waka's flute sword sprung to life again, the Tao Master pointing it at Alex's chest.

"I cannot simply _give_ you this key, Monsieur Alex," he said, pocketing the item in question. "You must realize that the place you plan to enter is a dark and dangerous place…a place not for the faint of heart. If I am to give you this key, then you must first prove that you are ready to enter such a dangerous place…by proving yourself to _me _first."

"Are you serious? !" Alex yelled at him. "There's a kid in danger, and you want to fight me _now_ of all times? !"

"Not to worry, mon ami…the child still lives, of that I am certain," the Tao Master replied.

"How do you know? !"

Waka smiled and raised a finger, tapping the side of his head with it. "Call it a sixth sense, mon ami…I _am_ a prophet, after all."

"Great…" Alex muttered, heaving a great sigh. _"How the hell do I beat this guy? He kicked my ass back in Kamiki…I guess I'll just have to try harder this time! I can't back down now, not after getting Nagi's blessing…not after coming this far!"_

Drawing his weapon, Alex settled into a fighting stance and muttered, "Ok…let's get this over with."

(_Okami OST – Waka's Promenade_)

"Why so down, mon ami? _Just go for it!"_ Waka shouted, drawing his katana and striking a fancy fighting pose, his swords held so that both tips pointed at Alex. A wave of kanji symbols, the same color as Waka's blonde hair, radiated out from the ground in between them, and formed a large circular area not unlike the one that Alex had fought the demon scroll imps in.

"_Here we go again…"_ Alex thought. Deciding to attack before Waka could get his initial barrage in, Alex lunged forward and swung low to get under the man's defenses. His strike was blocked effortlessly by the Tao Master's own katana, and Alex reflexively ducked as the flute sword hissed over his head, nearly severing the V-shaped metal design on his helmet.

Alex attempted to counter by pushing forward against Waka's guard, using his armor-enhanced weight to try and bull-rush over the man, and actually got some results as Waka lost ground, the skinnier man's sandals skidding in the dirt as he fought to maintain his balance. Reaching back, Waka brought his arm around and swung a hilt-punch with his katana, striking a solid blow to Alex's helmet right where his temple would be.

There was a loud '_bong!',_ and while Alex didn't suffer any major injury from the hit, the ringing in his ears stunned him long enough for Waka to push him off and leap back, cocking his arm for another katana throw. Alex managed to recover from his stunned state just in time to see the blade leave the Tao Master's hand, and quickly raised his own sword up to block.

Time seemed to slow briefly, and there was a loud '_ksshhhhhh!' _and '_clang!' _as Waka's katana ground against Alex's in midflight, sparks flying from the connecting swords until it reached the crossguard, where it bounced off Alex's blade harmlessly and tumbled into the dirt behind him.

Taking advantage of the situation, Alex jumped forward as fast as his armor would allow and attacked the Tao Master before he could re-summon the weapon back to his hand, their blades locking between them as Waka was forced to block the heavy attack, the green energy of his hi-tech flute sword crackling madly against Alex's exquisitely crafted moonsteel Kanata.

Staring each other down, eye to eye, Alex saw the Tao Master actually _smiling._

"You're – hnnnggh! – enjoying this, aren't you!" Alex grunted, stepping forward and pushing the Tao Master back.

"_Oui!_ You certainly seem to have – errrgh! – become more determined since our last duel!" Waka replied, stepping against Alex himself and pushing the armored man back again.

Alex was about to reply with a witty comeback, when he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his shoulder again and looked at it reflexively.

Taking advantage of Alex's distraction, Waka shoved the armored man off and swung the flute sword at Alex as he stumbled back, scoring a hit on the chestplate and scorching a deep black line into it. The armor proved as well-crafted as it looked, however, the scorch mark being just that, and not a serious injury.

However, Alex was hardly concerned with the damage to his armor, instead looking at his right shoulder as he felt a trail of hot liquid run down the length of his arm underneath the leather padding.

"_Damn…"_ he thought. His wound from yesterday had opened up again, and was leaking through the bandage Ishi had made him.

There was a snap of fingers, and the katana reappeared in Waka's hand, the Tao Master wasting no time in pressing the attack now that he had reacquired the advantage. Blocking the sideways swing from the far more dangerous flute sword, Alex attempted to redirect the attack of Waka's katana away from him as best he could, but the sting of pain from his shoulder proved too much for him to be able to lift his weapon high enough, and he barely surpressed a shout of pain as the katana bit into his already wounded arm, slicing through the leather padding and opening up the wound in his shoulder even further.

Clutching as his now-useless arm, disabled from the sheer waves of pain rolling through it and hanging limply at his side, Alex stumbled backwards and fell to his knee, his katana clattering to the ground as it grew too painful to continue clutching it in his hand.

The weapons in Waka's hands went back to his sides as the Tao Master relaxed slightly, regarding his wounded opponent with a look of disdain.

"Hmph…an improvement over yesterday, but still rather disappointing," he said. "You wouldn't last a minute against what lies within the ruins with poor skills like _those._"

Alex wasn't paying attention, still focusing on his now _massively _bleeding arm, blood pouring from the severed veins and drawing dark red lines on the silvery metal plates of his armor as it trailed down the limb and dripped off his hand onto the sword beneath it.

"And this, from the student of an Oina warrior!" Waka continued, shaking his head in obvious disappointment. "Your master must be a poor fighter indeed, if what you have shown today is any indication of his skills! It's no small wonder why I was able to evade him so easily!"

Something in the Tao Master's stinging remarks stuck in Alex's head, and he managed to look up from his bleeding arm and ask, "W-what?"

"Yes…he tried to follow me, deep into the wilderness, but it was an all too easy task to get away! And do you know what he did, when he realized that he had lost me? _He gave up!_ Just like that!"

"_Gave up? That doesn't sound like Oki…"_ Alex thought. "You…you're lying!" he spat out.

"Do I look like I am lying, mon ami?" Waka retorted, and indeed, his face was completely serious for once. "Your master is an unskilled, blundering fool! A simple puppy, compared to a _real_ Oina warrior!"

Alex didn't know why, but something inside him suddenly felt like it was on the verge of snapping.

He could take insults to himself just fine…high school had quickly beaten that tolerance into him. But insults to Oki…the man who had taken him in, who had fed, sheltered, and even _trained_ _him to fight_…was enough to make him grind his teeth.

Looking down at the ground, his breathing deep and heavy, he muttered, "Take…that…back."

"And why should I, mon ami?"

Alex didn't reply, but only grunted a bit in pain, as he reached down with his wounded arm…and his hand closed around the freshly bloodstained hilt of his katana.

The fury that he felt stirring up inside him, the suddenly increase of volume in his heartbeat…the feeling of rage in his body was so strong right now, that it almost seemed to transfer itself to the sword, the weapon shaking in his grip as his hand closed around it with almost crushing force, finding a strength that only pure rage could awaken.

The sword pulsed along with his fury and heartbeat, as he slowly struggled to get back up onto his feet…and suddenly, something happened.

He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but…he could swear that something inside the sword had suddenly woken up.

Something had come to the surface…hidden away, deep within the blade…something that pressed itself against his mind, begging, _pleading_ to be let in…

His vision suddenly blanked out…replaced by a series of rapidly passing images…so fast that he couldn't keep track of them all.

And a voice…

"_Father…did _I_ do that?"_

"_Yes, Raikoh…you did."_

"_But…how?"_

"_The sword granted you a mere taste of its power…an omen of things to come, should you both continue and succeed on this path that you have been chosen for. Once you grow old enough to initiate the Oath of Sworn Blood…this power will be yours to use freely."_

_This is a mere taste of what is to come…_those words stuck out foremost in Alex's mind.

_Just a taste…just a taste is all I need._

(_Yu Yu Hakusho OST – Yusuke Power Up_)

Waka watched with interest as the man slowly stood up, head still hanging low, looking towards the sword clutched tightly in his hand.

Slowly…ever so slowly…the armored helmet came up.

And Waka could see the fire in the man's eyes…_blue fire._

"You just made a big mistake, Fruitcake," Alex growled at him, barely contained rage in his voice.

The sword suddenly began to glow blue at his words…and then subsequently burst into flames of the same color, the fire roiling around the length of the blade and hilt, traveling up the arm of the armored man until his entire right arm was sheathed by the blue flames.

Waka was so interested by the sudden development that he almost forgot to block, when Alex suddenly dashed at him so fast that he was caught almost completely off guard.

Raising his katana up, he stumbled backwards as a sword blow – harder than any he had felt from the armored man before – landed on the weapon. Trying to regain his balance, Waka didn't see the punch from Alex's left fist coming at him until it connected squarely with his right eye, the metal gauntlet making a dull _crunch_ as Waka's head snapped backwards violently, stumbling back even more under the sudden and rapid assault from Alex.

Clutching at his eye and realizing that he was already in a compromised position, Waka quickly ducked down, narrowly dodging a vicious horizontal swing from the furious man's sword and hearing it sizzle as it grazed against the kanji barrier behind him, which he realized that he was practically backed up against.

Leaping to the side in an elaborate defensive roll, Waka came back to his feet with his position reset, and was immediately assaulted again as Alex anticipated the maneuver, the Tao Master hard-pressed to maintain his defenses as Alex launched one hammering blow from his sword after another, throwing in the occasional punch and even a heavy straight kick that, while missing their target, made the Tao Master consistently lose ground.

Alex was fighting like a man possessed…and Waka realized that he had become _far_ more dangerous now.

"_It looks like his true potential has finally shown itself…"_ he thought, parrying a heavy strike and redirecting it into the ground, feeling the heat from the sword's roiling flames wash over him.

Despite his precarious position, he couldn't help but smile inwardly. _"Everything I could have hoped for,"_ he thought.

Dodging another swing, Waka searched for an opening that he could exploit, something that he could use against the man to at least buy himself some time. Feeling his back press against the barrier behind him, Waka ducked under another slash and hopped to the side as Alex threw another punch at his head, the fist connecting with the kanji barrier where Waka's head had been only a second before. Taking advantage of the brief opening, Waka leaped forwards and landed a solid hilt-punch right to Alex's faceplate, knocking the man back and giving Waka the opportunity to kick out at Alex's leg and sweep it out from under him.

With a loud _whoomph _of collapsing armor, the enraged Alex fell to his back, his sword clattering to the side, and Waka pressed the attack even further, leaping high into the air for a downward stab that was aimed for the man's chest.

Still, Alex was not to be deterred, and the armored man quickly rolled to the side, Waka's flute sword stabbing into the ground and scorching the dirt around it. Gathering his weapon back up as he rolled, Alex went with his momentum and pushed off the ground with his hands, throwing himself up far enough to quickly regain his footing.

Waka took note of the fact that Alex's skill and reflexes had _clearly_ improved now, and knew that the sword he carried had something to do with it, as the flames continued to roil around the man's sword and up his arm, apparently doing nothing to harm the armor or the flesh beneath.

Bringing the sword around into his usual fighting stance with the speed and skill of fully trained warrior, Alex dashed towards Waka again, and the Tao Master leapt backwards with a ki jump, literally flying backwards into the air and landing against the kanji barrier.

Pushing off of it and leaping higher and higher, he looked down and saw that Alex's sudden boost in skill apparently also entailed an increased proficiency in ki jumps, the armored man's battle rush leading him to do the same as the Tao Master and follow him up into the air, albeit a little more clumsily from the weight of his armor.

Landing on one of the thickest branches of the trees that had been included within the area of the barrier, Waka watched as the armored man leapt for the branch and grabbed hold, hoisting himself up and holding the sword out in front of him in another battle stance.

Their swords met in the center of the branch, Waka using the bouncing tree limb to his advantage, his lighter weight granting him more freedom in maneuvering. The heavily armored Alex, however, proved far more unwieldy on the tree branch, waving his arms around in an attempt to keep his balance as he traded a quick strike with Waka, who balanced with ease. With the advantage being his again, Waka pressed forward, landing strike after strike with his two swords to keep Alex off balance, until he had backed the armored man up to the very tip of the thick branch.

Lunging forward, Waka landed an open-palm strike against Alex's chest, and the man tumbled backwards over the edge.

But not until his heavy metal gauntlet lashed out and gripped Waka by the shirt collar, pulling the lighter man over with him.

Tumbling through the air, Alex and Waka fought for the top position so that the other would break their fall, Alex throwing punches like no tomorrow while Waka dodged them as best he could and used momentum to his advantage to heave the bigger man around.

At the last second, when it seemed like they would impact the ground, they pushed off at the last second, redirecting their momentum so that they fell at an angle instead of straight down. Waka twisted around in midair and landed lightly on his feet, while Alex tucked and rolled, using his thick armor to absorb the shock of the fall and land in a position where he could quickly rise back to his feet.

And there, they stood facing each other, both men breathing heavily with their weapons held out in front of them.

The brute force fighter and the elaborate duelist.

Alex saw something suddenly fly at him, and reflexively reached out to catch it.

Looking at it, he realized that it was the key to the Tsuta Ruins.

The sound of clapping drew his attention back to Waka, who was now sporting a vicious black eye, but otherwise appeared unfazed. His weapons had been sheathed, and now he simply stood there, clapping his hands as if he had just seen an amazing play, a big smile on his face.

"_Se magnifique!" _he cheered. "Truly, a wonderful performance!"

Alex cocked his head at the Tao Master in confusion, the fire around his arm and sword dying away at his words.

"Far better than your previous performance, I must say!" he continued. "You may just have what it takes after all!"

"Wait…" Alex said. "What the hell are you talking about? _What just happened?"_

Now it was Waka's turn to be confused. _"Does he have no memory of what he just did?"_ he thought. _"He fought like a man possessed…maybe he actually _was_ possessed then."_

Deciding to think on it later, before Alex lost his temper again, Waka snapped his fingers and dissipated the barrier with a flash, returning the surrounding forest to normal.

"I trust that you will know what to do then, Monsieur Alex," he said, turning away from the armored man. "I have all the information that I will require…for now. Until we meet again, mon ami…"

"Hey! Wait!" Alex called out, but with a _whoosh_, the Tao Master had already leapt into the trees and out of sight.

"Dammit!" he cursed out loud. "What the hell happened? !"

Taking another look at the "key", he simply shook his head in exasperation and thought, _"Well…I've got the key now, at least. Better get a move on."_

Tromping through the brush, Alex soon arrived at the clearing where the imps had been camping out, and took a quick peek through.

What he saw were the corpses of numerous imps, multiple scorch marks and cuts across their bodies, their haul of Kushi's sake spilled out around them, the imps having obviously been attacked and killed by the Tao Master while they were drinking.

"_Damn!"_ he thought. _"Fruity wasn't kidding…it looks like a bomb went off here!"_

Spotting the doors to the ruins ahead, Alex came out of the brush and picked his way through the bodies, careful not to disturb any of them. Going right up to the doors, Alex examined them more closely, and sure enough, discovered a small, peach-shaped indent situated in the center of the split between them.

Taking one last look at the key, Alex stuck it into the slot and pushed until he heard a soft _click._ Some internal mechanism within the doors suddenly groaned to life, and a loud rumbling could be heard as the doors slowly opened outward, spilling out a huge cloud of dust against him.

Coughing loudly, he thought, _"Eugh…smells like something died in there! Better find Kuni fast!"_

Taking a deep breath of the last fresh air he would breathe for a while, Alex steeled his nerves and plunged in, the silvery tint of his armor quickly swallowed up by the darkness within.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew! *cracks fingers* That was long one! Hopefully, it was good enough!<strong>

***Smacked over head***

**OW! Don't hit me, Alex! That armor hurts, you know!**

**Alex: "Why do ya think I'm hitting you? This stuff chafes like a bi-"**

**Me: *Shoves OC out of review with great effort* Rate and review, if you want and I'll see ya next time!**


	13. The Webs of Chaos, part 1

**Whew...this chappie took some time. I actually had to do some research and go back to the Tusta Ruins in game in order to figure out how to order the events in this chapter. Not only that, but with the way I have this chapter planned, I realized that it would be WAY to long and condensed if I had tried to smash all the events together in one chapter. So, I decided to upload this bit as the first part, and I'll do the second part as the next chapter.**

**Now that that's out of the way...let's have some fun, shall we?**

**Alex: "Whaddya mean FUN? You left me standing in the entrance to those stupid ruins for nearly TWO WEEKS!"**

**Oh come on! You know that's not what really happened!**

**Alex: "Yeah, but...still!"**

**Still, what?**

**Alex: *angry sigh* "Nevermind."**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: The Webs of Chaos, part 1<strong>

(_Okami OST – Tsuta Ruins_)

Alex ran through the dark tunnel ahead of him, the only sound reaching his ears being his heavy footsteps and the rustling of his armor. Seeing a dim light up ahead, he quickened his pace, and soon found himself running up a sloping path that led into what he soon saw was a _huge_ antechamber.

"_Tsuta Ruins…I'm _definitely_ in deep now,"_ he thought, looking around at the myriad of different things within the giant cavern, lit up dimly by the sunlight shining through a relatively small crack in the ceiling, given the massive size of the chamber.

The first thing that caught his eye was the huge moss-covered stone statue, situated in the middle of a lake of water. Several small "islands", nothing more than simple patches of earth sticking up from the water, surrounded the statue and were covered in various forms of grass, moss, bushes, and other forms of plant life normally found in a sunlight-exposed cave. Running along the ceiling and down the walls were massive vines, bigger than any Alex had seen before, thicker around than an entire person was. These vines were draped across two separate paths that led to both sides around the lake in the center, and Alex pondered which way he should go first.

Deciding to head to the right first, Alex walked up to and hopped up several shin-high ledges, climbing over one of the massive vines in his way and jogging down the path. Doing so led him close to the water's edge, and noticing something, he stopped and looked more closely at the water.

"_Huh…"_ he mused. _"Well I'm no cave expert, but…I don't think cave water should be that deep a shade of purple."_

Deciding to test it out, Alex reached down and pulled up a handful of grass, tossing it out over the water and watching as it fell in …and dissolved almost instantaneously, the water hissing madly as the grass vaporized.

"_Woah…better watch my step around here."_

Continuing down the path and steering well clear of the water's edge, Alex caught sight of something else potentially interesting. It appeared to be some kind of tree, but very scraggly looking with its branches devoid of any kind of bloom or fruit. Not only that, but there appeared to be grey colored balls of fire orbiting around it, similar to the balls of fire that had surrounded the demon scroll that had ambushed Alex in Taka Pass.

As he drew near, the tree suddenly perked up and twisted around, "looking" straight at him.

"_What the hell…?"_ he thought, scowling at it.

The tree suddenly extended one of its limbs, some kind of giant, sickly-looking, bright purple growth appearing on the end of it. Alex couldn't get a good look at it though, because the tree immediately began swinging the limb around, faster and faster until it let go of whatever it was, launching the bright purple projectile straight for the armored man.

"Oh _crap!"_ he yelled, diving to the side as the projectile slammed into the ground where he had been standing just a moment before, exploding with the force of a grenade from the impact and sending Alex flying further than he intended to, almost right over the edge into lake. Fortunately, his reflexes allowed him to catch hold of a nearby bush, stopping him from sliding into the acidic water, and he quickly pulled himself up and back to his feet, drawing his sword as he saw the tree immediately launch another of the explosive growths at him.

This time, Alex swung his sword at the projectile, hoping that he could at least knock it aside and give himself enough time to retreat out of range.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was the sword passing completely _through_ the projectile, but still exerting _some_ kind of force against it that suddenly stopped its momentum and immediately reversed it, the projectile flying back towards the tree like he had hit it with a baseball bat. Impacting dead-on with the tree's trunk, the growth exploded and caused the tree to bend backwards nearly double, suddenly weaving about unsteadily as though the surprise reversal had knocked it senseless.

Alex was definitely surprised by the sudden exchange, but he also knew that he didn't have time to consider what had happened. Taking advantage of his opening, Alex dashed past the tree and heaved himself over the next giant vine lying across the path, taking cover behind it as the tree recovered and "looked" around for him.

"_Damn…even the friggin' PLANTS are out to get me!"_ he thought, as the tree settled down, going perfectly still again. _"Note to self: avoid the angry trees!"_

After making sure the coast was clear, Alex cautiously continued down the path again, and spotted a large stone door at the end of it. Approaching it, it suddenly slid open, granting him access to the room beyond. Deciding not to think on it too hard, Alex went through, the door slamming shut behind him, and he found himself on a sloping dirt path leading through a pool of clearer looking water than what had been in the last room, a similar stone door at the end of it.

Seeing nothing much of interest, except another of the evil trees situated on a tall island to the side of the path, Alex dashed past before it could attack and quickly slipped into the next room.

In here, he saw that he was now in a large and spacious tunnel, green colored from all the grass and moss growing in it. He could see two ledges running along the length of it high up on the walls, and at the end of the path he was currently on, he could also see a high wall overgrown with moss.

Going up to that wall, he could plainly see that it was too high to jump and grab onto, and the surface of it was much too sheer and lacking of handholds for him to climb.

"_Ok, ki jump time,"_ he thought, spitting into his palms and rubbing them together in preparation as he formed the hand sign in the same way that Oki had taught him. _"Close your eyes and focus…picture your ki, push it down into your legs…and let it roll."_

Feeling the explosive strength swell up in the tendons and muscles of his legs, Alex crouched down low and jumped with all his might, shooting up into the air and just barely clearing the ledge, coming down onto it and weaving about unsteadily on his feet as he nearly slipped backwards off the edge.

"_Not bad…"_ he thought, once he had regained his balance and looked over the edge to see how far up he had jumped. _"I think I'm getting the hang of all this 'Spirit of the True Warrior' stuff!"_

Continuing forward, Alex saw a multi-tiered ledge sticking out of a pool of water in front of him, leading up the wall and higher up into the ruins. The pool itself was fed by a large flowing waterfall of clear water, and Alex decided to help himself to some of it. Taking his helmet off, he bent down and began scooping the cool water into his hands, drinking it down and wiping the sweat from his brow.

As he drank, his thoughts turned to the task at hand, and where exactly he might find Kuni in all of this mess. These ruins were big and extensive, that much was certain, and the kid could be anywhere for all he knew.

And something the imps had mentioned – something about a "Queenie" – made him uneasy about what _else_ he might find in this place.

Scooping up some more water to wipe the sweat off his brow, Alex suddenly noticed that the water was becoming slightly stained in color, even though the water had been perfectly clear in the small pool . Wondering what could be causing it, Alex examined his arms and, to his horror, discovered that his right arm was still bleeding profusely from the wound that Waka had given him during their fight, the blood running down his armor and into the water cupped in his hands.

Dropping the handful of water, Alex quickly undid the buckles for his arm plates and dropped them to the ground, so as to make the work easier for his task. Pulling Ishi's cloth bandage free and exposing the wound to the air, Alex quickly washed both the bandage and the wound in the water before clumsily rewrapping it around his arm, doing his best to try and replicate the job that Ishi had done when applying the bandage herself. It stung like hell, given the awkward angle that he had to work with, but at least he wasn't a complete stranger to the process…his dad had taught him how to bandage a wound like this during one of their trips to Lake Tahoe, in case they ever got separated and Alex ended up hurting himself.

The whole time, he was wondering just how in the hell he could have forgotten that he had such a bad injury. Thinking back, he couldn't recall feeling any pain whatsoever from his arm during his time here in the ruins...almost as if the arm had been numbed.

"_Why the hell is that?"_ he thought as he worked at tightening the bandage. _"I remember how I got it in the first place, but…everything just blanks out right after that. That fruity bastard insulted Oki, I got really pissed off, and then…nothing. Nothing but a bunch of weird images and voices…and then he's just standing there, clapping and congratulating me on a job well done! Maybe what happened during the time I was blanked out has something to do with this…"_

Finishing the bandage as best he could, he slipped the loose end under one of the loops several times to keep it from unraveling, since the angle he was working at prevented him from tying a knot. It was a poor job at best, given that he had nowhere near the skill of Ishi or even his dad…but it was better than nothing.

Standing, he placed the helmet back on his head and reattached the face and arm plates, pondering the multi-tiered ledge in front of him…until he heard voices in the distance, faint and echoing from the acoustics of the caves, but close enough to tell that they were heading his way.

"_Keep it moving, guys! We gotta finish this patrol before lunchtime!"_

"_Why bother? No one's gonna get in here, anyways!"_

"_Because Queenie's gonna have YOU for lunch if you don't do what she says!"_

Looking around hurriedly, Alex saw a thick patch of bushes nearby and quickly ducked into it, lying down on his stomach and hoping that it would be enough to hide the sheen of his armor. Peeking out, he saw, standing at the top of the multi-tiered ledge, a small group of imps that were looking to make their way down. However, something about these imps seemed…different. What, exactly, he couldn't tell yet, as they were too far away.

"Again, why bother?" one of them said, sitting down on the edge and pushing himself off onto the next tier below. "Queenie's already got herself something for lunch, and its sitting right there, smack dab in the middle of her chamber!"

"You mean that smelly little human brat that Billy's group brought back?" another said, copying the motions of the first. "She hasn't decided yet if she's gonna eat it or not…so you'd better play it safe!"

"I'm hungry…" the last one remarked, following suit.

"We KNOW you're hungry! You tell us _every stupid day_!"

Now that they were getting closer, Alex could confirm that a couple of these imps were different than the ones he had seen before. In addition to the short greenshirt that he could see lagging behind the group, there were two taller and bulkier looking imps in front, one wearing a yellow shirt and carrying a massive looking drum on its back, while the other wore a red shirt and carried what looked like some kind of oriental-style wooden guitar. Hopping onto the last tier and then into the water with a series of splashes, they swam over to the shore and climbed out, shaking themselves off.

"Ugh…why do _we_ always get the pond route?" Redshirt muttered, shaking the water out of his guitar.

"Maybe because _someone_ got Queenie mad at us on day one?" Yellowshirt said, staring at Greenshirt accusingly as the smaller imp struggled through the water, his wet sleeves flapping around in the air as he waved at the others for a hand up.

Sighing exasperatedly, Yellowshirt grabbed one of Greenshirt's hands and pulled the smaller imp out of the water, dropping him roughly to the ground. "You're hopeless, greenie…" he muttered.

"Hey! At least I don't use a bongo for a weapon!" Greenshirt retorted.

"Why you…! You take that back!"

"Make me, Bongo Joe!"

The yellow-shirted imp growled angrily, looking like he would do just that, but an upraised hand from the red-shirted imp next to him made him stop.

"You smell that?" Redshirt asked, sniffing the air.

Yellowshirt and Greenshirt both sniffed the air themselves, and nodded. "Fresh blood," Yellowshirt remarked.

Going over to the edge of the pond, Redshirt bent down and began to examine the grass there, reaching out and picking at something with his finger. Bringing said finger to his mouth, he tasted what was on the end of it and immediately straightened up.

"Human blood!" he hissed to the others. "Looks like we've got ourselves an intruder!"

"An intruder? Finally, some action!" Yellowshirt cheered. "Let's go after him! Where do you think he went?"

"Well, he obviously didn't go the way we just came from, so he must have gone back towards the entrance! If we're fast, we might be able to catch him before he gets back to the giant statue!"

"Remind me again why that statue's so important?" Greenshirt asked, as the group began to move away, passing Alex's hiding spot by a few feet.

"Don't you know _anything_, greenie? ! The entrance to the inner chamber is through that statue! If he's gone back to the entrance, it must mean that he's stopped the flow of poison water and he's trying to get to Queenie and the human kid! We've gotta stop him before that happens!"

The group of imps ran off, and Alex crawled out of his hiding spot, picking a few loose leaves out of his armor.

"_Ok…"_ he thought. _"Kuni's in the inner chamber, somewhere through the statue, but I'm going to have to find a way to stop the flow of poison water so I can get to the entrance…which won't be easy, because they know I'm here now. Oh well…no progress without risks."_

* * *

><p>"Ahh…good ole' Agata Forest! Lots of great memories here, eh Furball?"<p>

Amaterasu agreed, the white wolf making her way down the path at a swift trot, following her memories as she passed through the small, marshy forest. The poncle Issun bounced atop her head with his usual enthusiasm, simply going along with the ride as he always had in their previous adventures.

"Remember Pops trying out that disaster of a new technique here?" he continued. "What did he call it…Exploding Barrel, Flying Manatees, or something?"

"_Imploding Barrel, Flying Monkeys, Issun," _the wolf corrected, leaping over a fallen tree trunk. _"And yes, I remember…how we nearly DROWNED."_

"And do ya remember the time we saved Kokari's dog from that Spider Queen? That was fun too!"

"_I also remember you sneezing and causing the ledge to fall, nearly dropping us into a pool of poison water," _she reminded him.

"Yep, good times. Gooooooooood times…" the poncle sighed, settling back down into Ammy's fur.

The wolf smiled inwardly, fondly recalling the memories Issun had mentioned, as well as the many others she had experienced around the forest. Susano, Kushi, Mr. Orange…they were all less than a day's run away from the forest, and soon she'd be seeing them all again. Of course, it would soon be back to business, as Waka was there as well, hopefully with information regarding her "mystery man", as the Tao Master had so adequately (and typically) put.

Lost as she was in her memories, she almost missed Issun's shout of "Hey, Ammy! Stop! STOP! WHOA, GIRL!"

Slowing down and stopping, she watched as the suddenly excited poncle hopped off her head and bounced around in front of her, pointing somewhere off to the side.

"Hey, uh…remember what I just said, about rescuing Kokari's dog from the Spider Queen, from the ruins here?" he said.

"_Um…yes."_

"Yeah, well, I was wondering…did we ever remember to close the doors behind us when we left?"

Suddenly wondering that herself, she followed Issun's pointing hand and caught sight of the old, vine-covered entrance to the ruins, the doors wide open and revealing the darkness within.

Intrigued, she gathered up Issun, and the two of them made their way over towards the entrance.

Coming out into the clearing, they came upon a scene of carnage…a large group of imp bodies, scattered about with various cuts and scorch marks on them, and some of them still holding half-full jugs of what Amaterasu recognized as Kushi's sake, after sniffing one and lapping at it a bit.

"Whoa! What the heck happened here? !" Issun exclaimed, looking down at the bodies from his vantage point atop Ammy's head.

"_The imps were slain, obviously,"_ the wolf stated, nosing over one of the corpses. _"These marks upon their bodies…this was Waka's doing."_

"Oh, _great!_" the poncle said sarcastically. "For a moment there, I thought it was something _worse!_"

"_Still, it doesn't make sense…"_ Amaterasu continued. _"Normally, Waka avoids direct conflict unless he personally finds it important…so why would he attack this particular group of imps?"_

"_Perhaps I can answer that question for you, ma Cherie!"_ a voice in her head suddenly echoed.

Issun was about to launch into an angry rant, when he was suddenly cut off by the sound of a flute, its pure notes carried on the wind itself.

"Oh no…" Ammy heard him moan, the wolf somehow knowing that he had buried his face in his hands. "Please, let it be a figment of my imagination…just a figment!"

"Hark! The call of the heavens, the earth, the sea…they summon me fourth to defeat evil!" the smooth and all-too-recognizable voice called out.

"Someone, just kill me _now! _Spare me the torment!" Issun wailed to the sky.

There was a loud _whoosh,_ as Waka leapt from his post atop the entrance to the Tusta Ruins, coming down lightly in front of them.

"Yes! Waka, the god's gift to man, is here! _Bonjour!"_

All the pomp, all the fruitiness, and even Issun's horrible mood suddenly just _stopped_. Completely evaporated into thin air.

Neither Issun, nor Ammy, were paying any attention to Waka's words. Both of them had their eyes fixed firmly on the Tao Master's face…and the horrendously obvious black eye he was now sporting.

There was the sound of barely repressed sniggering, growing louder and louder as Ammy looked up to where the poncle was on her head, before a bellowing _"BWA HA HA HA HA! ! !"_ echoed through the forest, Issun bent over double and clutching at his sides as he laughed harder than at any other time in his life. Tears streamed down his face from laughing so hard, the poncle losing his balance and falling off Ammy's head onto the dirt below, making him laugh even harder as he rolled around and pounded his fist against the ground.

"Ammy – _ha ha _– stop me quick, before – _hee hee_ – I BUST A RIB!" he shouted in between huge breaths of laughter.

Ammy simply looked up at Waka, the Tao Master suddenly looking a bit deflated from Issun's derisive laughter, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man whose pride had obviously just been stomped into the ground.

"_Do you want to talk about it?"_ she asked him, keeping her words silent from Issun, who was now fighting to stifle his laughter without success.

Smiling faintly at the sound of her voice, he shook his head. _"Don't worry, ma Cherie…I am quite fine, thank you."_ Clearing his throat, Waka waited until Issun finally got ahold of himself, a few extra chuckles escaping the poncle as he jumped back up to Ammy's head.

As soon as the poncle was situated, Waka immediately launched back into his usual routine, as though nothing had happened. "Good to see you again, ma Cherie! And you as well, 'Master poncle'! How goes it, my little bouncing friend?"

"Great, until you showed up!" Issun retorted, back into his usual anti-Waka mood. "Isn't there some _other_ place you should be? Like, some other place where you _never_ help out when we need it?"

"_Ach!_ You wound me, mon ami!" Waka said, holding a hand to his heart. "I had other business to attend to at those times! Surely, you knew that?"

"_Other business? !"_ Issun snapped. "Whaddya call swooping in at the last second to steal the Serpent Crystal after me and Ammy busted our butts killing off Crimson Something-or-Other? ! Or those other times you showed up, just to show your pretty self off while trying to beat up Ammy? !

Waka was about to reply with another of his witty retorts, when Amaterasu stepped in, saying, _"Enough you two, enough! Waka, you called us here for a reason concerning the mystery man, correct?"_

"_Oui!"_ the Tao Master answered. "I tracked him to Kamiki Village, but it seems he has become…er, _not so mysterious_ anymore."

"_What do you mean?"_

"What I mean is that he has already been trained a small amount in the art of swordsmanship, and has taken up a sword and suit of armor. Apparently, he plans to use them to rescue a young baby boy, who was taken by the imps into the ruins here just last night," Waka answered, pointing to the entrance of the Tsuta Ruins behind him.

"Wait…what? !" Issun suddenly piped up, hopping about. "You're telling me this guy went in there by _himself?"_

"Well, not entirely," Waka said. "I took the liberty of lending him the key…after I made sure that he was ready, of course. He took my prophecy of him rather well, in fact."

"You…you _lead him in there? !"_ the poncle said, now flabbergasted in addition to being even more agitated now. "But he could get killed in that place!"

"First off, my little bouncing friend…" Waka began, "I did not _lead _him in there like I was baiting some kind of trap! I simply gave him a nudge in the right direction! And secondly, he seemed quite set on rescuing the child…as he quickly made clear to me," the Tao Master said, pointing to his black eye.

But Issun wasn't paying attention to him anymore, instead bouncing around rapidly on Ammy's head. "Quick, Furball! We gotta get in there and help him out! There's no telling what kind of trouble he could get into with all the imps that are bound to be in there!"

Ammy agreed, but before she ran off into the ruins, she turned to the Tao Master and said, _"Once we're out of there, you and I are having a nice long talk about your 'social skills'."_

"_I look forward to it, ma petite choux fleur,"_ he answered, with one of his usual smiles.

With a _whoosh_, the white wolf took off into the ruins, leaving the trail of flowers and grass in her wake, and Waka chuckled to himself as he sat down and began nursing his black eye.

Amaterasu, in the meantime, had already entered into the central chamber of the ruins, the familiar gloominess of the place bringing back memories both good and bad.

"_The moss, the vines…even the poisonous water is here too,"_ she thought to herself. _"I don't like this…it's almost TOO close to the last time I was here."_

"Ugh…here we go again, Furball," Issun remarked. "I really hope this guy you're looking for is worth it."

"_You say that like I have some kind of crush on him."_

"What? No! I wouldn't…well…maybe…but…"

"_I'm only joking, Issun."_

"Oh…heh heh…" he chuckled awkwardly.

Doing her best to recall the layout of the ruins, she remembered that the first way to go was to the right, and was about to set off when the two of them heard voices.

"_Quick! This way!"_

"_Go, go, GO!"_

"Huh?" Issun said, looking around. "Who's there?"

Amaterasu sniffed the air experimentally, and among the large variety of scents that she detected, including one that stuck out significantly and therefore _had _to be the man she was tracking, she picked up one stench that was particularly foul and close: _imps._

In a suddenly rush, three imps of the red, yellow, and green variety came mantling over the large vine in the path directly to the wolf's right, and stopped dead upon seeing her just standing there and looking back at them.

"Huh…looks like the water's still fine, but what's this wolf doing here?" the yellow one asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Who cares?" the red one said. "I'm actually feeling a bit peckish now, thanks to greenie. I say we catch and cook it up!"

"Eat a wolf?" the green one pondered, rubbing his chin in thought. "I wonder what they taste like…"

"Looks like we've got company, Ammy!" Issun said, psyching himself up. "I hope you still got the moves!"

Ammy responded by crouching down into a fighting stance, a growl slipping from her throat as the three imps looked at her.

"Whoa! Looks like wolfie here is getting a bit angry!" the red imp said. Turning to the green one, he pushed it forwards and said, "Go and beat its skull in, greenie! And don't make it too messy!"

"Uh…right…" the green imp said warily, drawing its bamboo bo-staff off its back and approaching Amaterasu slowly. "Say goodnight, wolfie!" he chattered, holding his stick up high and lunging forward, swinging the weapon down at the wolf.

There was a lound _clang_, and every imp there suddenly saw the flaming metal disc interposed between the wolf and the imp's weapon, seemingly held in midair by sheer force of will.

"Um…what?" Greenshirt said.

Before any of them could react, Amaterasu shoved off the imp's weapon with her own and lunged forward herself, her powerful jaws latching onto the imp's throat as she pushed off the ground and leapt high into the air, dragging the unfortunate imp with her. Spinning around gracefully in midair, she flipped herself and the imp around, spinning even faster as she suddenly dove towards the ground and pile-drived the imp headfirst into the dirt beneath them, the mighty slam sending up a cascade of dirt that showered the other imps as the white wolf gracefully bounced off and flipped through the air, coming down lightly on her paws.

Needless to say, Greenshirt was dead…very, _very_ dead.

"Huh…" the yellow imp said again, the red imp's mouth hanging open in shock as they both stared at Greenshirt's limp body, his head completely buried up to the neck in the dirt path. "Never did like him much."

Issun, who had been holding on to Ammy's fur for dear life during the entire maneuver, quickly recovered and began hopping about, cheering, "Atta' girl, Ammy! Show those imps whose boss around here!"

Amaterasu launched her attack, throwing out her divine reflector and striking both imps with it, the metal plate rebounding between their heads with a rapid _bong-bong-bong_ before immediately returning to place above her back. The imps stumbled about wildly, suddenly dizzy and disoriented by the pounding their heads had taken, and it was a simple matter for Amaterasu to dash forward and headbutt the yellow one in the chest, knocking him off his feet and throwing him into the lake of poison water.

There was a loud _hiss,_ followed by the imp's pained shriek as he disintegrated almost instantly in the vile water.

Recovering from his dizziness, the red imp quickly pulled out his samisen, as Amaterasu knew it was called, and raised it up in a block, the heavy wooden instrument saving him from being struck by the wolf's reflector again.

Thinking he was safe for the moment, the imp peeked over his weapon...and saw the wolf suddenly raise her tail and give it a flick.

The wooden instrument suddenly shattered in the imp's hands, the demon letting out a shriek of surprise and fear as he fell back…

…a shriek that was abruptly cut off when Amaterasu latched onto its throat and brought it to the ground, giving a quick twist-and-pull that snapped its neck instantly.

Dropping the imp's body to the ground, Amaterasu sat on her haunches, let out a long yawn, and shook herself off, as Issun hopped about in front of her excitedly, saying, "Heh heh…great job, Furball! Those imps never saw it coming!

Hopping back to her head, he continued. "Now come on! We gotta find this guy!"

* * *

><p>"<em>Huh…that's weird,"<em> Alex thought, examining the large, out-of-place stone sphere that sat on the ground in front of him.

Curious, he decided to try and see if he could roll it around, but to his surprise, no matter how hard he pushed or shoved, the thing refused to move. Clearly, it was much heavier than it looked.

"_Now why would someone go to all that trouble to carve this thing so smoothly if it can't be rolled?"_ he thought, giving up with a shrug.

Continuing down the tunnel, it wasn't long before he saw yet another thing that caught his eye.

"_Is that supposed to be some kind of flower bulb, or something?"_ he thought, looking at the pinkish plant-like growth just sitting there on the path in front of him. Behind it, he spotted a depression in the ground with what looked like some kind of pressure plate situated in it, an odd-looking kanji symbol inscribed into it. To the left rested another stone door.

"_Man, that must turn into one hell of a big flower…"_ he thought, turning back to the giant bulb. "…_but, just to be safe, I'm gonna steer clear of it."_

No sooner had his brain formed the thought when the giant bulb suddenly shifted and began to twitch wildly.

"_Uh-oh…I think I just pissed it off, whatever IT is!"_

(_Okami OST – Exorcising Evil_)

The bulb suddenly launched into the air, spinning around and flinging what Alex realized was dead leaves everywhere, sprouting a large red face, four long and muscular legs, and a long tail with a thorny looking club at the end of it.

Landing on the ground in front of him with a heavy _crash_, its red and extremely angry looking face glared at him before it reared up on its hind legs and roared at him menacingly.

"_Yep…it's definitely pissed off,"_ Alex thought, drawing out his sword as the new type of demon suddenly leaped into the air, clearly more agile than it looked as it curled into a ball and began to spin, hitting the ground and immediately taking off towards Alex as its spin caught traction on the ground.

Not expecting the sudden attack from something so bulky looking, Alex only had a split-second to stare before the thing impacted his body, sending him flying through the air to land flat on his back with a heavy _crash,_ his helmet and connecting faceplate flying off his head as he impacted the ground and clattering off somewhere behind him.

Fortunately, his armor once more proved its usefulness, the thick metal plating absorbing the worst of the impact and leaving Alex in only a minor daze as the demon rebounded, spreading its limbs out again and landing on the ground, pawing at it like an angry bull. Pushing himself up on his elbow, Alex saw the bulb on its back suddenly contort, before it spewed out a large and sickly-looking seed that glowed purple just like the growth that the evil trees had thrown at him.

Thinking quickly, Alex rolled away as the seed impacted the ground beside him, chunks of dirt and rock rattling off his armor as he shielded his now-exposed head. Pushing himself back to his feet, Alex brought his sword to bear as the thing rushed at him again. This time, Alex managed to jump to the side far enough that thing only grazed him lightly as it flew past, spinning him around and ironically putting him in the perfect position to hit the thing.

Swinging his sword and expecting it to bite into the bud on the monster's back, Alex was caught off guard when his weapon bounced off, leaving no mark at all.

"Oh…_crap!"_ he yelled, ducking as the monster retaliated by whipping its tail at him, the spiked club on the end of it missing his head by mere inches.

Launching a defensive swing as he quickly stumbled back, born more of desperation than actual reflex, Alex felt the lethal appendage hit his blade, and saw the spiked club suddenly go flying through the air out of the corner of his eye. A spurt of black demon blood shot from the severed stump as the demon snarled in pain and spun around rapidly to face him…

…and came face to face with the silvery blue glow of Alex's sword, the weapon now coated in the black blood from the demon's severed tail.

"_Ok, we're back in business!"_ Alex thought, not wasting any time in launching his next attack. The sword swung down low, and try as it might to dodge, even the deceptively mobile demon was unable to get away, and it could only roar in pain as the sword bit into its right front limb, nearly severing it with a single stroke.

Backing off as fast as it could, the demon snarled again and contorted the bud on its back, preparing for another ranged attack. Ready for it this time, Alex waited for the seed to come right at him and swung hard, deflecting it back at the demon and hitting it right on the head with a loud _crack!_

Rearing back on its hind legs again, the demon let out and odd whimper and fell flat on its stomach, clearly dazed by the hit. The bud on its back contorted again, and Alex, not wanting to face another seed projectile, quickly lunged forward and struck at the bud with all the force he could muster.

This time, the sword actually bit through the bud's tough exterior, stopping halfway through, and Alex could tell that he had done some real damage by the way the demon suddenly shrieked in pain, scrabbling madly as it tried to get back to its feet. Yanking his sword out with an extreme amount of effort, Alex was immediately assailed by a sudden torrent of foul-smelling and dirty liquid, gushing from the bulb like it was some kind of blood.

Fighting the urge to gag, Alex decided that enough was enough. Holding his breath and bringing the sword back, he stabbed it into the center of the bud as hard as he could, driving the weapon halfway up the blade into the growth and feeling it hit _something_ inside.

The demon shrieked even louder this time, arching back as its face contorted horribly, before it collapsed and lay still.

Standing there for a moment as he panted heavily, Alex placed his foot against the demon's corpse and grunted as he pulled back, yanking the blade free with a sickening _squelch_. More liquid streamed from the hole the weapon had left, hitting Alex in the chest and running down the front of his armor.

"Yuck…" he muttered, shaking his head and not even caring enough anymore to step out of the disgusting stream of liquid. _"Gonna need a bath after this…if Gizo doesn't kill me first for ruining his armor."_

Suddenly remembering that his helmet was missing, Alex retraced his steps back along the path he had come, until he found both it and the faceplate resting up against the stone orb he had come across…except, it wasn't stone anymore, which he realized as he looked at it while slipping his helmet back on. The stony texture was gone, replaced by smooth glass not unlike the orb he had once carried before it had broken. Inside it was a green-colored kanji symbol, and Alex quickly realized that it was the same symbol that he had seen on the pressure plate thingy behind the demon before he had spooked it.

"_I wonder…"_ he thought, and reaching out to touch the smooth glass surface, discovered that the orb could now be rolled, and quite easily as well. Guiding it down the path and over to the depression, Alex pushed it onto the pressure plate, the orb sliding smoothly into position and setting off some internal mechanism, which immediately caused the door to his left to open. Nodding in satisfaction, Alex went through, keeping his still-glowing sword drawn and in hand.

* * *

><p>"Looks like blood to me, Ammy."<p>

The white wolf and Issun were both examining the spot by the pool of clear water, where they had discovered a spot that had been spattered slightly with red blood, immediately prompting a brief investigation as they realized that it hadn't come from a demon.

"_He's hurt, that much is certain,"_ Ammy said, sniffing at the spot and getting a better feel for the man's scent. _"He still seems to be moving, though."_

"So he's still alive, at least," Issun thought out loud. "Better keep moving then."

Ammy nodded and padded up to the water's edge. Lifting her tail again, black ink dripping from the end of it at her command, she quickly brought it around in a circle…and a perfect lily pad immediately formed in the water in front of her, a random frog croaking and hopping off with a splash. Leaping out, the white wolf landed on the lily pad, the plant supporting her weight long enough for her to leap out against the wall in front of her, push off with her back legs, and propel herself up to the first tier of the ledge.

* * *

><p>Whistling appreciatively, Alex examined the massive stretch of walkway that followed the wall of the massive dome-shaped room he was in, all the way around to another stone door on the other side.<p>

Setting off at a jog, Alex began to move along the walkway when he felt it suddenly shift beneath him unsteadily.

"Whoa, _whoa!_" he said out loud, throwing out his arms to maintain his balance until the walkway slowly stopped shifting. _"This is REALLY_ _unstable! Better watch my step…again."_

* * *

><p>"Yeesh…what a mess," Issun commented, examining the bile-soaked carnage in front of him, the only body there was being that of what he recognized as a large bud ogre. The growth on its back had been hacked into several times, and upon closer examination, the poncle could see that the corrupted fruit on the inside had been split open by what had undoubtedly been a powerful attack.<p>

"Looks like our mystery man knows a thing or two about fighting, at least. But what kind of weapon could get through a bud ogre's defenses like this? If I recall correctly, I don't think even _your_ weapons could do that, Ammy!"

Though she knew the poncle was right, Ammy wasn't paying much attention to him at the moment, instead looking at the orb that had already been set into position over the pressure plate and the open stone door to her left.

Going through, with the poncle in tow, Ammy came into a familiar room, immediately spotting a massive growth of cave mushrooms that towered nearly to the massive crack in the ceiling, sunlight pouring through.

"Hey!" Issun exclaimed. "I remember these mushrooms! Looks like they're still doing pretty good! We can probably use them to get up to the ledge again!"

Ammy did just that, hopping from one massive mushroom cap to the other and quickly ascending the ledge. Continuing down the path from there, they came out onto a short stone walkway, inscribed with various ancient symbols of unknown meaning, and followed it to the stone door at the end.

"Uh oh…" Issun suddenly said. "Dang! I forgot…I'm allergic to mushroom spores!"

"_Oh no…Issun, please don't!"_ Ammy pleaded with him, but the poncle was already going "Ah…AH…"

* * *

><p>"<em>AH-CHOOOO!"<em>

Alex stopped suddenly at the sound, and looked around confusedly.

"Huh? What was that?" he asked himself, but before he could come up with an answer, the walkway beneath him shifted again.

"Uh oh…"

(_Okami OST – Escaping the Water Dragon_)

Looking behind him, he could see the first section of the walkway suddenly just drop off the face of the wall, plunging down into the large pool of poisonous water below with a loud _crash_, before the second one in line followed suit.

Alex realized that he was literally about to lose ground, and immediately broke into a full-on sprint, pounding down the walkway as fast as he could go as the collapsing walkways behind him began to rapidly catch up.

"_Crap,_ _crap,_ CRAP!" he yelled, as he felt the section of walkway beneath him give way just as he cleared it. Fighting to keep his balance as he ran, he saw the stone door at the end rapidly approaching and put on a final burst of speed, now leaping desperately from ledge to ledge as they began to fall out from under him.

Just before he was about to reach the door, the platform he was on dropped off and began to plummet down below. In an act of sheer desperation, Alex flung himself headlong from the edge of the falling walkway with a loud "HAAAAHHHHH!", and barely managed to catch the edge of the walkway that still remained, holding up the door that he had to pass through.

Struggling as he fought to pull his heavily armored self up, he could feel himself teetering on the brink of certain death, and his mind raced as he tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

He mind immediately turned to the memory of the last time he had ended up in a situation like this, back when Oki had first begun to train him in ki focusing.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated, shifting the energy in his body to his arms, and began to haul himself up ever so slowly. After what seemed like an eternity of hanging there, Alex managed to pull himself up and over the edge and lay there panting, his breath coming in short, heavy gasps.

"_Christ…"_ he thought, putting his hands over his face. _"I'm gonna die here, I just know it."_

Gathering his wits about him, Alex slowly pulled himself back to his feet and trudged over to the door, fatigue already beginning to set into his muscles as he walked through, the heavy door slamming shut behind him right as Amaterasu and Issun came in the door at the opposite end of the room.

"Heh…my bad," Issun said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Amaterasu simply huffed and raised her tail again, summoning her celestial canvas and filling in the first section of missing walkway with ink. With a _poof_, the ink vanished, leaving behind a perfectly restored section of walkway, and she walked to the edge of that one, filling in the next section in turn.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

><p><strong>And there we go! Next half will be uploaded sometime in the following week or two, once I'm done writing it!<strong>

**Alex: "I hate you, you know..."**

**For what? !**

**Alex: "Nearly dopping me into a pool of poison water, nearly getting me beaten to death by a deranged demon...things like that."**

**You want me to get the Author's Pen o' Power out again?**

**Alex: "...no."**

**Then shut up.**

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)**

**Quick note: It's getting pretty busy for me at college, with project due dates coming around and all that. I may be a while in getting the next chapter in.**


	14. The Webs of Chaos, part 2

**Hey, an update that's actually a bit EARLY for once. And right in the middle of my school project sessions!**

**Yeah, I couldn't stand the thought of going more than two weeks without giving you guys the conclusion to this chapter, so I set some time aside and wrote like my life depended on it.**

**Alex: "You know, I can arrange that." *draws sword with evil grin***

**Uh...well, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: The Webs of Chaos, Part 2<strong>

Alex slumped against a nearby wall, sliding down into a sitting position with his arms resting on his knees, taking a much needed breather after his near-brush with death. After nearly taking a nosedive into a pool of acidic water, he wasn't much in the mood for continuing onward at the moment.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he exhaled heavily through his nose as his mind began to wander. So many questions were running through his head at the moment that he could barely concentrate.

Why was he trying so hard to rescue the kid of someone he hardly knew?

Why was he risking his life like this?

Why _him?_

_Why?_

He closed his eyes and forced the questions out of his mind, trying to stay focused despite his mental and physical weariness…just like he had, whenever he began to feel depressed about his living situation back in San Francisco…and why he had gone to the city in the first place.

He wanted to stop…but he knew he couldn't. Something wouldn't let him.

"_C'mon Alex, let's get moving."_

He looked up suddenly, his eyes searching the small room he was in.

"D…dad?" he whispered.

But there was no one there, he realized…it was just a memory.

"_Geez, Dad! Gimme a break! We've been hiking all morning!"_

"_We're almost to the peak, though! Don't you want to see the view?"_

"_Well, yeah, but can't I just sit down for a sec?"_

"_Aw, c'mon, son! You can make it! You've got what it takes!"_

"I can't dad…" Alex whispered to himself, quoting himself from that day. "I'm just too dang tired."

"_Look, I'll even help you! Just reach out and grab my hand. C'mon!"_

Alex looked up, almost picturing the rough, worn texture of the skin on his dad's palm…the hand of a hard-working man.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he extended his arm, reaching out with his own hand…grasping at nothing, yet seeing everything from that day.

"_There ya go, Alex! That's the spirit!"_

His dad's hand took his own, and Alex felt himself being pulled back onto to his feet.

The image faded, and he was back in the small, dark room of the Tsuta Ruins.

He looked down at his feet, putting his hands on his hips and letting off a small sigh.

"_Dammit, Dad…"_ he thought, shaking his head.

Turning to face the next stone door in his path, he strode through and came into a much larger room, this one having a large rise in the center of it, the stone path he was on curving around it on both sides. In the back of the large room, he could see a small river of the purple acid water flowing along into other parts of the ruins, fed by a couple tiers of a rushing waterfall. Looking up at it, he could see that the water flowing into the cave from higher up was perfectly clear and normal, but became dark purple once it hit the middle tier and went into the river below.

"_That's weird…maybe it's the source of poison that the imps were talking about?"_ he thought.

Regardless, he knew that he would have to find a way up there in order to investigate, and caught sight of the ledge that ran higher up along the wall, leading straight to the waterfall. But it was too high for a ki-jump, and he wasn't willing to risk trying to jump off against the wall for fear that he might screw up and fall into the poison river.

Looking around for another way up, he clearly saw the large, Japanese-style gate set on the path he was on, glowing with a sickly black aura and having a turquoise-green colored ball of fire orbiting around it.

"_Those fireballs seem to be a theme around here…"_ he thought, approaching the gate, which was a short ways ahead of him. _"I wonder what would happen if I…"_

Taking one step too close to the gate, Alex suddenly felt himself get sucked in, a blast of blood-red kanji symbols radiating out from under him as soon as he crossed the threshold.

"_Well, THAT figures."_

Just like with the demon scroll that had ambushed him in Taka Pass, dark nimbuses of energy rose up from the ground, and two green-shirted imps popped up, hopping from foot to foot and brandishing their bamboo bo-staves.

Drawing his sword and preparing for a fight, Alex waited for the imps to make the first move when a third nimbus of energy appeared in front of the two demons. What came out of it was a horrible stink, and Alex wrinkled his nose at the smell, his eyes threatening to start watering from it. What stood in front of him could only be described a partially rotten koi-fish, wearing the top half of a man's kimono and somehow remaining propped up on its tail fins. It's "hand" fins were held out in front of it in a martial arts pose, as if the thing meant to karate-chop him to death.

"_Huh…Judo fish. That's a new one on me."_

The thing suddenly twitched, and from its back sprouted two elaborate looking wings, in the same style as it's fins. Giving them a mighty flap, the fish launched itself into the air and began hovering there, staring down menacingly at him.

"_Ok, scratch that…FLYING Judo fish."_

With a loud _"Kee kee kee!"_, the imps rushed Alex as the fish began to zoom around on its wings, watching the human's movements as he clashed with the imps, their bamboo staves cracking off of Alex's sword as he parried their attacks. Waiting for the opportune moment to strike, the fish cocked one of its fins back and let loose with its attack, launching an exact replica of its fin through the air that was aimed straight for the human.

Catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, Alex used his free hand to punch one of the imps away and switched to defensive mode, bringing the sword up in an attempt to deflect the incoming projectile. The other imp would have none of that however, and though Alex succeeded in deflecting the fin away, his inexperience at blocking attacks from multiple angles at once left himself wide open to the imp's attack, the demon swinging down hard and connecting with the wide shoulder plate of his left arm.

There was a loud '_CRACK!_' as the hit landed, but Alex didn't feel any pain. Come to think of it, he barely felt anything from the attack.

Oddly enough, the fight seemed to stop right there, the fish and second imp watching as Alex turned to look at the imp that had hit him.

It was just standing there, staring at its now broken bo-staff, half of the weapon simply hanging pitifully by a single strand of the frayed material, right where the weapon had struck the thick metal plating of Alex's armor.

"Aw…that sucks, man," Alex said, shaking his head.

"Yeah…" the imp slowly replied. "Well, nice meeting you!" it added quickly, before turning tail and dashing off, leaping into the kanji barrier and vanishing in a cloud of black smoke.

Alex, the remaining imp, and the fish all stared at where the imp had vanished for a few moments, before turning to stare at each other.

In a flash, the battle was back on. Alex reassumed his fighting stance as the imp he had punched raised his staff and attacked again, the fish resuming its course of flying about and launching lethal fins projectiles at the man.

The remaining imp was deciding to fight defensively now, as Alex saw when it quickly backed away from him and held its staff out in front of it in a blocking maneuver, watching Alex's every move as the two of them squared off in the center of the arena. Alex, in turn, searched its defenses for a weak point, as Oki had instructed him countless times when teaching him about showdowns with a single opponent. Though an imp could hardly be counted as an opponent, as Oki had also told him countless times, it was still important to…

His train of thought was cut off when another fin suddenly sliced by, nicking his waist just hard enough to draw blood through the leather padding.

"_Shit!"_ he cursed, berating himself for getting too absorbed as he reflexively grabbed at the new, but fortunately shallow wound…which quickly proved to be another mistake. The imp he had been fighting took advantage of the brief opening to dash forward and heave itself over him in a remarkable display of dexterity, sliding smoothly into position behind him and hooking its bo-staff around his neck.

Alex dropped his weapon as his hands flew to the straight stick that was crushing his Adams Apple, the man suddenly lurching around as he struggled to break the stranglehold the imp had on him, the smaller demon riding on his back as it fought to maintain its hold on the bo-staff.

"Now!" it chattered, speaking to the fish that was still in the air. "Hit him now!"

The fish did just that, cocking its arm back again and launching another sharp-edged fin towards Alex.

The deadly projectile arced through the air, heading straight for Alex's throat…

At the last second, he heaved himself around, and the imp was suddenly in the way of the projectile.

There was a loud _'shink!'_, and Alex suddenly felt the staff drop away from his throat, as well as the weight dropping off his back.

Hardly believing his luck, Alex decided not to dwell on it and instead reached down to grab the bo-staff that the imp had dropped, reversing his grip on it and holding it like a javelin as he took aim at the flying fish. Waiting for his moment to strike, Alex let fly with the impromptu spear right as the fish was about to let go with its own attack, and the bamboo staff connected squarely with the fish's torso.

With a surprised gurgle, the fish dropped from the air like it had been shot with a gun, slamming into the ground as a very irate Alex immediately bore down on it, sword now back in hand and poised to strike.

Quickly getting back up, the rotten fish demon let off its own version of the imp battle cry, sounding a lot like _"Kai kai kai kai!"_ before it suddenly lunged at the man with its fins outstretched.

Alex backpedaled, surprised by the sudden rush, and quickly adjusted his angle as the demon bore down on him…and impaled itself on his sword.

Alex immediately heard a rumbling from deep within the fish's body, and his eyes widened.

On pure reflex, he planted his foot against the demon corpse and kicked it off the blade, as far away from him as possible, shielding his eyes with his hands as a loud 'BOOOOOMMMM!" deafened him to the world and laid him out flat on the ground.

He lay very still for a moment, his ears ringing as he simply stared up at the cave ceiling above him, now visible as the demon barrier faded away.

"_Scratch that…"_ he thought again. _"Flying, SUICIDAL, Judo fish."_

There was a sudden _whoosh_ of air, and Alex groaned as he lifted his head off the ground, rolling onto his stomach and pushing himself up. Looking up, he immediately spotted the difference in the room: a patch of massive mushrooms that reached up nearly to the ceiling, similar to the ones he had seen and ki-jumped up a few room back.

Letting off an exasperated sigh at the physical exertions yet to come, Alex immediately made with the ki-jumping, quickly ascending the mushrooms and clambering up onto the ledge, which he jogged down until he got closer to where he suspected that water was being poisoned.

Sure enough, when he got closer, he could see several large clay urns arrayed around the tiny pool where the waterfall was pouring into, spewing an endless supply of some vile purple goop into the water and spreading it to the rest of the ruins.

Already knowing what he had to do, Alex took up his sword and swung it at one of the urns, smashing it to pieces in an incredibly satisfying way. Avoiding the patch of goop it left behind, Alex repeated the process on the other urns, taking out his accumulated frustration on them.

As soon as the last urn broke, the water almost instantly began to clear, and within moments, Alex was drinking his fill of fresh water from the pool.

"_Ok…"_ he thought, wiping his lips. _"That should make it safe to swim to the statue now. Aw man…I'm REALLY not looking forward to the hike back, though."_

Pondering the waterfall in front of him, a thought suddenly occurred to him…

"_Hmm…if the demons were poisoning this particular source of water, and it somehow spread to the main room…then this river must lead straight there! I can just swim back!"_

Suddenly catching a whiff of the foul smelling fish on him, mixed with the pungent odor of the vile liquid that the "flower bulb demon" thing had sprayed onto his armor, he added, _"I need a bath anyways…"_

Stepping back, Alex plugged his nose and ran forward, jumping into the pool of water and immediately getting swept off the side into the river below, making a loud _splash_ as he went under. Coming back up, shaking ice-cold water from his hair and spitting out a mouthful of it, he quickly set to swimming along with the current to speed his progress, taking another fall off an even bigger waterfall and letting out a startled shout as he realized just _how_ much bigger it was.

Making an even bigger splash as he fell in, Alex came back up again, coughing from some of the water going down the wrong pipe, and found himself already back in the entrance chamber, the massive statue looming in front of him.

"_Ok, the imps said that the entrance to the inner chamber is through the statue, so that's where I'm gonna look first,"_ he thought, swimming over to the massive base of the statue and using it to propel himself along in the water.

"So, why are we here again?" he heard someone say, and he immediately flattened himself against the statue, taking care not to make any loud splashes in the process.

Looking around the base of the statue as far as he could look from his position, he counted at least half-a-dozen imps milling about in front of the entrance, along with one of the massive plant bulb demons. Hearing flapping above, Alex looked up and spotted at least three of the flying fish demons making circuits around the higher-up sections of the statue.

Security here was tight.

"It's simple…" he heard one of the imps answer. "There's at least one or two intruders in here, trying to get into the central chamber where Queenie and the brat are. It's our job to make sure that they don't get to that entranceway, _right_ _there in front of us_."

"Of course, that's taking into consideration the possibility of them getting past that Demon Gate," another one piped in.

"Right."

"Didn't there used to be three of those things at one time?"

"Yeah, but do you know how hard it is to manifest a Demon Gate? Those things take _ages_."

Alex chanced a peek further around the base of the statue, and spotted a semi-submerged opening in the base of the statue that seemed to have some kind of glowing light radiating out from it…almost like it was calling to him.

"_That must be it…I'm almost there,"_ he thought. _"They haven't spotted me yet, so I might be able to sneak in if I'm careful."_

Taking a deep breath, Alex dipped below the water's surface and swam as carefully as he could so as not to cause ripples that could potentially blow his cover. Swimming up to the entrance, he risked another quick peek, poking an eye and ear just far enough out of the water to watch and listen.

"Well, what if they try to swim around to the entrance?"

"Get real! Humans aren't _nearly_ smart enough to think of that!"

Dipping below the water's surface again and shaking his head at the stupidity of the imps, Alex swam into the entranceway, the bright light enveloping him as he entered.

* * *

><p>Amaterasu walked into the small room, leaving the newly restored walkway behind her, as Issun bounced up and down on her head vigorously, his bright green glow now replaced by an angry red color.<p>

"I _said_ I was sorry, ok? !" the poncle stated angrily. "I can't control my dang allergies!"

"_You know what, Issun? I honestly don't even care anymore. I'm a little too tired to argue with you right now,"_ the wolf replied.

"Huh? Tired? Already?" Issun said, his glow fading back to green. "Are you feeling ok, Ammy?"

"_I'm fine…my ink just needs to restore itself, is all,"_ she said. But in truth, it was more than that. Using the power of Restoration that many times in succession had taken a surprising amount out of her…more than she was expecting, and more than she was willing to admit to the poncle.

Maybe Gekigami was right…maybe the Brush Gods' powers _were_ fading with the faith of mortals again.

Regardless, she couldn't dwell on it now. Even with the amount of stamina it had taken her to restore the bridge, she had more than enough to handle anything else the demons had to throw at her in the ruins, and there was still the matter of catching up with the mystery man before he hurt himself any more.

Running forward into the next room, she saw the second set of mushrooms were still there as well, and more importantly, that the water had already been cleared of the purple poison.

"Wow!" Issun exclaimed. "Looks like our friend's been busy! He was nice enough to clear out all this stuff for us so we didn't have to!"

"_So it would seem,"_ Amaterasu stated. Sniffing the air, she realized that the man's scent was still _very_ fresh, which meant that he had passed through here only mere minutes ago. Following the scent trail, she walked right up to the river's edge, and stopped as the trail suddenly faded, the water dampening the scent.

From this, she gathered that the man had taken to the river to speed up his journey back to the entrance, and without a moment's hesitation, jumped in herself, ignoring the sudden and horrified complaints from Issun as she raced along with the river's flow.

* * *

><p>Pulling himself out of the water, his armor leaking from more places than he cared to know, Alex took a long look at the rather odd setup of the first room within the statue. From what he could tell, there were several moss covered, half-destroyed stone pillars here, surrounded by patches of what looked to be dying grass, mixed with the same evil black aura that had surrounded the demon gate he had gone through. In the center of it all was a twisted mass of the same large vines he had seen throughout the ruins, all of them coming together right beneath some kind of un-bloomed flower blossom…that was floating in midair.<p>

Walking forward to more closely examine it, Alex passed close by to one of the black-aura patches, and suddenly felt very odd…he didn't know how to describe it, other than that he got the feeling that something was very, _very_ wrong about the small area…something that kept him from getting closer to it.

Then he started to feel sick to his stomach, and he got the hint, immediately backing off from the blackened patch of grass. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling that it had something to do with the demons in the ruins, and anything that had something to do with demons was something that he didn't want any part of right now.

"_Is that the kind of corruption that Oki was talking about in Taka Pass…?"_ he mused to himself. _"The same kind of thing that made him want to get through Agata Forest really fast?"_

Looking up, around, and eventually behind him as he walked around the centerpiece and examined the room, Alex could see another doorway on a ledge far above him, spotting another of the strange floating flower bulbs above it. It seemed to be the only way out of here, other than where he had come in, so he immediately set to figuring out a way to get up to it.

"_Hmm…I might be able to do some wall ki-jumps up to there, seeing as how there's no poison water to risk falling into…although I might break my neck…"_ he thought. Walking forward a bit and positioning himself near the wall, he rubbed his hands together again as he mentally prepared himself.

"_Now what did Oki mention about this kind of thing? Something about having to properly balance the ki distribution in your feet, or whatever. Too much pressure, and you shatter the surface of what you're trying to push off of. Too little, and you risk losing traction and falling."_

Clapping his hands several times to psyche himself up, Alex performed the necessary hand-sign and shifted the ki to his legs again. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself up and forward, his gauntleted hands scraping against the stone surface of the wall as gravity slowed him down. Shifting his legs and pressing his boots against the wall, Alex tensed up and pushed off again…

…and his feet promptly shot out from under him, his feet losing traction, and the armored man fell against the stone wall before sliding down a ways and hitting the ground with a loud _whumph!_

"Ooowwwwwwww…" he moaned, now lying on his back…again.

Pulling himself back up, he groaned as he straightened out, his spine letting off a loud '_crack!'_ as the vertebrae slipped back into place.

"_Ugh…I could sure go for a nap right about now,"_ he thought, already knowing that he couldn't because of how close he figured he was to the end. _"So just how the hell do I get up there?"_

Looking around a second time, Alex's eyes settled on the un-bloomed, floating flower again, and something about it suddenly struck a familiar chord in him.

"_Have…have I seen that type of flower before?"_

Suddenly remembering the gift he had received from Sakuya, back at the Konohana Tree, Alex reached into the pouch tied to his waist and pulled out the bright pink flower, glowing brightly in the semi-dark room he was in despite still being tightly wrapped up in itself.

Holding it up and comparing it to the larger flower bulb hanging in midair, Alex confirmed that it was indeed the same type of flower, the only difference being size.

"_Ok, so it's a cherry blossom…but what's a cherry blossom doing in a place like thi-"_

His thought was cut off as the blossom in his hand suddenly popped open and quadrupled in size, becoming as large as the blossom he was comparing it to. The other blossom also reacted, popping open itself, its petals rotating around like some kind of helicopter device as it turned and angled the open bloom towards him.

"What th- WHOA!" he shouted, as a thick green vine suddenly shot from the blossom he was holding, attaching itself to the second one, yanking the man off his feet with amazing force, and flinging him through the air. Right before he hit, the vine attaching the two blossoms suddenly vanished, and Alex fell hard against the floating blossom, the flower seeming to struggle a bit to stay in the air and support his armor-enhanced weight.

Pulling himself up with no small amount of effort, Alex slowly stood as he precariously balanced on the floating blossom, almost too small to hold him and bobbing unsteadily in the air.

"_Ok…I did NOT see that coming," _he thought, weaving about as the flower dipped a bit. Realizing that it wouldn't be able to hold him up for much longer, he quickly searched around for another way, and his eyes settled on the next flower bulb that was floating over the ledge in front of him.

Still holding Sakuya's blossom in his hand, Alex slowly held it up again, pointing it towards the next blossom. Sure enough, the flower instantly re-bloomed, the vine shooting out of it and attaching itself to the floating and now-bloomed flower above. Landing on that one, and pulling himself up, he could see several other of the large flower "grapple targets" floating in the air. Latching on to each one in turn, Alex quickly ascended the inner chamber of the statue, eventually coming to the final bloom that was floating right over the ledge. This time, the flower he was "grappling" to remained face-down, and as Alex was pulled to it, the vine vanished and dropped him heavily onto the ledge.

Sakuya's blossom immediately wrapped itself back up into its compact form, and Alex examined it for a moment before pocketing it with a shrug, taking a look behind him and noting the incredible height he was at now.

"_So…I've got some kind of "grappling hook" then?"_ he thought. _"Fine by me…it'll beat ki-jumping everywhere, at least."_

Opening the door and going through, Alex came out on a ledge, or more accurately a large vine that was wrapped around the statue at the midpoint, curving up and around the massive sculpture. Immediately flattening himself against the statue's outside surface for fear of falling off, Alex began to shimmy along the ledge as fast as he could, trying his best to stay out of sight of the patrolling, flying fish that he saw flapping around.

Unfortunately, a man garbed in heavy, silvery-colored armor was a rather hard sight to miss, and Alex was actually half-expecting it when one of the fish suddenly cried out an alarm as it came around at his level and spotted him immediately.

Cursing out loud, Alex dashed up the vine as far as it would let him go, ducking as one of the fish's razor-sharp fin projectiles ricocheted of the stone near him. Seeing nowhere else to go, Alex panicked for a moment as three of the flying fish suddenly gathered around, each one taking aim at him. Looking around frantically, Alex spotted more of the floating blossoms nearby, leading further up and around the statue, and he quickly pulled out Sakuya's blossom, the flower somehow sensing his panic and already in the process of re-blooming as he yanked it out of the sack and pointed it at the nearest floating flower.

The three fish demons launched their attack right then, the fins arcing towards Alex and just barely missing him as he pulled away from the ledge, rattling off the stone wall behind him. Swinging through the air, Alex held onto the blossom for dear life, flailing a bit when the vine disappeared before he regained his senses and immediately latched onto the next flower in line.

Gurgling angrily, the fish demons pursued him around the outside of the statue as he ascended higher and higher, going around to the front of the sculpture's face and catching the attention of the group of imps below.

"What the…! _It's him!_ Wake up, you idiots!" he heard one of them call out. _"Let's get him!"_

Catching a brief glimpse of the imps scrambling into action as he swung around, Alex managed to catch hold of the semi-flat surface that made up the top-most section of the statue, quickly heaving himself up with a shot of ki to his arms, narrowly avoiding a fin-projectile in the back.

Now that he was up and his arms were free, Alex pulled out his sword and dodged another fin projectile as he quickly searched the top of the ledge.

Try as he might, he couldn't see anything here that looked like the way forward…nothing but four more of the floating blossoms above him.

There was nowhere else to go. He was trapped and surrounded, the fish demons gurgling as they prepared to ventilate his body.

* * *

><p>Hearing the commotion up ahead, Amaterasu doubled her pace, almost flying through the water as she shot out from the top of the waterfall and into the main lake of the entrance chamber. Ignoring Issun's loud sputters and complaints about his clothes never drying out, she swam around the base of the statue and saw a large group of imps collectively hopping from the main path to the first island in the chain of islands that led straight to the entrance within the statue.<p>

Seeing the imps bickering loudly as they jostled for position, several of them getting pushed off and falling into the water with surprised shrieks, Amaterasu would had laughed…had she not looked up and seen the real crisis of the situation.

It was then that Amaterasu got her first look at the man she and Waka had been tracking.

The Tao Master's statement about the man having acquired a sword and armor had proven true: the man was garbed in a thick metal suit of samurai armor, his face hidden by the faceplate as he held his katana up defensively, using it to deflect the occasional projectile thrown by the Dead Fish demons that surrounded him in the air.

"Oh man…" Issun remarked, having followed her gaze. "Looks like he's in real trouble! Let's give him a hand, Ammy! Or paw…or tail…WHATEVER!"

Swimming forward, Amaterasu quickly went up to one of the islands and leapt out of the water, coming down on top of it and cutting off the approaching group of imps. The demons stopped dead on the opposing island, staring at her as she quickly settled into a crouch and snarled angrily at them, making her disdain of the demons clear.

One of the imps decided to chance a jump and leapt forward across the watery gap, bo-staff held above its head as it let off a battle shriek.

Amaterasu promptly smacked it down with her reflector, driving the imp straight into the water and causing it to belly-flop against the surface with a loud _smack!_

Taking advantage of the brief opening, Amaterasu looked back up to where the human man was still duking it out with the fish demons, his movements growling sluggish as the goddess realized that he was tiring out from having to dodge or deflect so many projectiles. The dead fish demons were wearing him down bit by bit, and he wouldn't last much longer from the look of it.

Throwing up her celestial canvas, which froze time for the briefest moment, Amaterasu used her ink-covered tail to draw a single, slashing line across the three fish, the demons conveniently lined up perfectly for the attack.

The canvas faded, and there was a sudden '_shink!'_ as a powerful line of force slashed across the three demons. In an instant, the wings were sliced from their bodies, the fish letting out gurgles of surprise and pain as they fell from the air and into the water below with a series of splashes.

The man suddenly jerked in surprise over the sudden development, looking around for what the source of the assistance could have been, before his eyes glanced downwards…and settled on the wolf below.

For the briefest of moments…man and wolf regarded each other.

Throwing up her celestial canvas again, Amaterasu drew four quick lines from each of the floating Konohana Blossoms, the lines of ink immediately replaced by strong vines that attached themselves to both the floating flowers and the hooks on top of the half-dome sculpture on the statue's head.

(_Okami OST – Amaterasu Returns_)

With the sound of grinding stone and falling dirt, the dome popped off the top of the statue like a cork, the man watching with interest as it revealed an opening to another room below.

Giving her one last glance, the confusion clearly written on his face, he turned and ran to the opening, leaping in and disappearing from sight.

"Six imps…think you can handle them, Ammy?" Issun remarked, a tiny _schwing_ reaching the wolf's ears as the poncle drew out Denkomaru and faced the angry group of imps with his old friend.

"_You're on."_

* * *

><p>Landing heavily inside the hidden room within the statue, Alex found himself surrounded by a huge amount of small statues, each one depicting an odd effigy of sorts.<p>

Seeing nothing of interest, except for another stone door in front of him, Alex walked through it and found himself in a tight, stretching tunnel that was lit by several candles.

As he walked, he began to think.

"_That wolf…was that the wolf Oki's looking for? It looked pretty dang close to the picture that he had…"_ he thought, seeing the end of the tunnel and picking up his pace.

"_But why is it here? Is it following me? Is it looking for Oki too? Too many damn questions!"_

Coming out of the tunnel, Alex saw an ancient stone staircase ahead of him, lined on both sides by more of the candles…and what he realized were _giant_ spider webs.

(_Okami OST – Giant Monster in Wait_)

"_Whoa! What the hell kind of spider made _these?_"_

Suddenly, he got that feeling again…the feeling that something was just _wrong…_

…and there was something else, too…a feeling of darkness…and dread.

"_Yeesh…this place gives me the creeps..."_ he thought, shivering a bit. _"But this is the inner chamber if I've ever seen one, which means Kuni is around here somewhere! Gotta find him and get out quick!"_

Tromping up the staircase, Alex immediately saw the disheveled human skeleton propped against the wall, surrounded by piles of skulls next to a pair of rather unique looking stone doors.

"Oh…crap," he muttered at the horrific sight. "Poor bastards. What the heck happened to you guys?"

Shaking his head and doing his best to put the image out of his mind, Alex walked up to the doors, which slid open to the sides as he came close. Looking through, he could only see a pitch-black darkness waiting up ahead, swallowing up the candlelight that filtered in.

"Can't see a damn thing…" he muttered, choosing to go over to the nearby candle stands and pick one up as an impromptu torch. The pitiful light it threw off wouldn't do much…but at least he'd be able to see where he was going.

Gulping nervously, he set his jaw and reluctantly strode into the dark tunnel ahead of him, the feeling of dread even stronger now, almost feeling like it would crush him if he stayed here too long. Forcing himself to keep walking, he kept his gaze focused solely forward, the only sound reaching his ears being his footsteps and his hammering heartbeat.

"_Just keep going, Alex…"_ he thought, gripping the candle stand tighter in his hands. _"Nothing to worry about…just stay focused and keep your legs moving."_

He did just that…so well, in fact, that he didn't even notice the sudden drop in front of him until he walked right over it.

"Whoa, WHOA, _WHOA!"_

The candle stand flying from his hands as he dropped off the edge, Alex fell through pitch blackness for a split second before landing on his backside _hard, _ bouncing and rolling several times from his forward momentum before eventually ending up on his back…again.

"OW!" he yelled out loud, his frustration overriding his fear for the moment. "What the hell! Someone could get hurt falling off that thing!"

Standing up and grumbling angrily as he rubbed his stinging backside, Alex stumbled around blindly for a moment before he spotted a tiny light nearby, the candle he had taken with him amazingly still lit. Grabbing it up, he held it high up in the air to spread its light about a little better.

Through the dimly glowing light source, he finally saw the fruits of his labor. The one thing that made this whole fiasco worth it.

A long strand of webbing, shaped into a hanging cradle of sorts…holding Kuni.

"_Oh, thank God…he's still alive!"_ Setting the candle stand down, Alex went up to the cradle and examined the baby for any kind of injuries. Fortunately, he spotted none, the blanket-swaddled child looking healthy as could be, which Alex found surprising, given the pressuring darkness of this place. Still he wasn't going to complain about his and the baby's luck.

"C'mon, little buddy…" he said, moving to pick up the blanket bundle, Kuni making typical _goo-goo ga-ga_ sounds as the baby reached tiny hands out towards him. "Let's get you out of here."

His hands literally came within inches of the baby, before the web cradle was suddenly yanked into the air, disappearing into the shadows above with only the crying wail of the baby to mark its passage.

"_Shit…"_

It was a trap…and he had fallen right into it.

The cavern he was in began to rumble, as he heard something large begin to move around. Drawing his sword, Alex looked around for the source of the noise, quickly spinning around to face behind himself as the acoustics of the cavern began to play tricks on him.

His breathing growing tense and heavy, could feel a single bead of nervous sweat run down the back of his neck, as the rumbling intensified.

At that moment, the darkness in the cavern seemed to lift a bit, and Alex could suddenly tell that he was standing on a large circular stone platform of sorts, inside a massive pit that took up the entire area of the room.

He could also see that massive, looming shadow of something _huge_, staying hidden within the remaining darkness of the cavern.

"_Well…isn't _this_ a surprise…"_ he heard a raspy, yet somehow feminine voice speak…a voice dripping with hunger and malice. _"To be honest, I half-expected that blundering idiot Susano to come after me, to rescue his own child…but a samurai? I'm flattered."_

The shadow began to move towards him, shaking the cavern with its heavy, thundering footsteps.

"_Still…you have no idea what you are up against, human. You may be a warrior that has sworn to protect the innocent, but your samurai oaths mean NOTHING here!"_

Alex's hands shook violently, more from fear than the heavy rumbling that ran through the cavern with each step the shadowy monster took. The sword's tip refused to remain still as he fought to steady himself, but the only thing he could manage was a step backwards, his fear beginning to press down on him.

"J-just…w-w-who, or w-what _are you? !"_ he managed to stutter out, trying to sound brave, but failing miserably as he took another step back.

"_Me? I am the one who will spell your DOOM!"_

(_Okami OST – Wrath of the Spider Queen_)

The remaining shadows in the cavern disappeared, and Alex let out a horrified gasp as the monster was revealed to him, his sword arm falling to his side in shock as he gazed upon a tangled mass of stringy black hair atop the head of a massive spider, its eight legs looking like the hands and arms of a human woman and garbed in tattered, bloodstained cloth that served as a mocking example of a woman's kimono top. Behind it, Alex could see its massive spider abdomen, pulsating sickeningly, and in front, a gaping, snapping maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

"Holy…son-of-a…oh my God!" he managed to whisper, now backing away more quickly as the monster leered at him.

"_I am the Spider Queen! And you, human, shall be my next meal!"_

"_Oh shit…oh SHIT! I gotta get out of here!"_ he panicked, turning tail and bolting back towards the ledge that he had fallen off of, summoning his ki power and jumping up as high as he could. His arms cleared the edge, his chest slamming into the stone and driving his breath out as he struggled to pull himself up, sword still in hand.

A crushing force grabbed him around the legs, and he shouted "No, NO, _NO!_" as it pulled him free from the ledge. The Spider Queen, having a solid grip on the human's legs, held him upside-down in front of her hideous face as she inspected him.

Acting out of pure fear, Alex took his sword and chopped at the appendage she held him with. All he succeeded in doing was bounce off the thick, warty hide of the massive demon, drawing a laugh out of her and causing her stagnant breath to wash over him.

"_Fool! There is no escape from me, nor my master's wrath! Now hold still, and I shall make this as painless as possible!"_

Paralyzed in horror, it was all Alex could do to close his eyes and wait for the razor sharp jaws to swallow him down.

The moment his eyelids slid down, however, a loud "RAOWF!" split the air, and Alex suddenly felt his body being jerked around wildly as a pained shriek filled the air.

(_Okami OST – Battle of the Spider Queen_)

Opening his eyes, Alex could see the white wolf that had helped him just a few minutes ago, latched onto the spider's head and savagely biting into its numerous eyes, causing blood and retinal fluid to squirt out onto the ground far beneath them. The screech of pain quickly turned to one of anger, and Alex saw one of the massive appendages reach up and grab the wolf, shaking it around before tossing both it and him aside.

Wolf and man flew through the air, the canine spinning around gracefully as all four of its paws hit the wall and absorbed the shock of the impact. Alex wasn't so lucky, the man slamming into the wall with enough force to knock his helmet off and cause stars to explode in his vision. Peeling off the wall and leaving a shallow, man-shaped crater behind, Alex fell and smashed into the ground, landing in a heap with his sword clattering to the ground next to him.

The wolf landed over him, crouching down in a protective stance as the Spider Queen recovered and glared angrily at them.

"_YOU!"_ she bellowed the moment her remaining eyes fell on the wolf. _"So you have returned, Amaterasu, in the hopes of destroying me again?"_

The wolf responded by snarling angrily at the spider, lips curled back and revealing its own razor sharp teeth. Alex responded by groaning loudly, lifting his head off the ground as he fought to remain conscious, coughing out blood from an internal injury.

"_Well, it seems you have already failed in that regard, Sun Goddess! I remember what happened during our last encounter, when you used the blossoms of your cursed Konohana Tree to defeat me!"_

Laughing evilly, the spider looked up to the ceiling of the cavern, which remained bare and unoccupied, save for the web cradle that held Kuni.

"_Your little trick will not work on me this time, Amaterasu! I have already taken the liberty of removing those troublesome flowers from my lair! Without your little vines weighing me down, you stand no chance of defeating me!"_

Alex looked up from his position on the ground, forcing his vision to center itself as his eyes fell on the white wolf standing over him…and the little green ball of light that was bouncing on top of its head.

"Oh yeah? !" he heard a tiny voice say. "We don't need no stinkin' flowers to beat you, right Ammy? !"

"_Ammy…?" _Alex thought confusedly.

The wolf barked loudly, apparently in agreement, as it dashed forward with a speed Alex thought impossible, the green light on its head suddenly flying off and hitting the ground with a tiny puff of dust.

"Whoa, Ammy, you forgot me! Hey! AMMY!" the light shouted, turning a bright red as it rapidly bounced up and down, and Alex could swear that he saw an angry burst of steam shoot out from it.

Turning his gaze away from the bouncing ball of light, Alex struggled onto his hands and knees, his body screaming out in pain. Watching the battle taking place in front of him, Alex found himself completely awestruck as the white wolf dashed around the massive demon, its paws leaving a trail of golden grass in its wake that vanished almost as soon as it appeared. The spider raised one of its appendages and attempted to smash it down on the wolf, but the canine proved faster, dodging to the side as the spider's leg smashed down into the ground, sending up a cloud of flying debris.

Jumping forward quickly, the wolf swung its fiery metallic disc at the leg of the monster…and bounced off with a loud _pank!_

Jumping back as the Spider Queen tried to smash the wolf again, Alex saw the canine's tail, suddenly dripping ink, rise up and flick through the air. A black line of ink suddenly streaked across the exposed legs of the spider, but the same sound reached the man's ears as the odd attack was also foiled.

"_HA! You see? Your attacks are useless against my thick hide! Sooner or later, your strength will wane, and I will feast on the body of a goddess!"_

"_Goddess…?"_ Alex thought. Suddenly, his memory of when he had first met Waka came to mind.

_I am but a humble Tao Master, working at the behest of a certain goddess who would simply_ love_ to meet you!_

"_Wait…if that wolf is a goddess, and Waka mentioned that a goddess is looking for me…that can't be a coincidence,"_ he realized. _"That wolf…that _goddess_…knows something, and I'm going to find out what!"_

Forcing his aching limbs to move, Alex pushed himself up into a kneeling position, reaching over and grabbing his sword while at the same time reaching into the pouch at his waist and pulling out Sakuya's blossom.

The green ball of light that the wolf had left behind suddenly noticed his movement, and bounced over to him, catching his attention as it hopped up and down rapidly in front of him. Now that it was closer to him, Alex could actually see that it was a tiny person no bigger than his thumb, wearing some odd-looking helmet made of a beetle's shell on his head and carrying a tiny sword the size of a _toothpick_.

"Whoa, stay back buddy!" the tiny person said. "Ammy's got this under control! Just keep your head down for now!"

"I… I can't," Alex replied. "There's too much stuff that needs to be answered."

"Huh? What the heck's that supposed to mean? !" the glowing person replied.

"Don't worry, I can help…trust me."

The tiny person opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he noticed the tightly wrapped blossom in the man's hand. Without waiting for a reply, Alex jumped to his feet and dashed forward, sword in hand and wounds temporarily forgotten, his rush attracting the attention of the giant spider.

"_Arrogant fool! Prepare to die!"_ the demon shouted, turning to face him as Alex stood resolute and unflinching.

"_No! Stay out of this!"_ he heard a strong, female voice suddenly cry out in his mind.

Surprised, he looked to the wolf in shock, the canine staring back at him with the closest thing to a worried look that a wolf could manage.

The spider's movements brought him back to his senses, and Alex dodged aside as a massive appendage attempted to crush _him_ now. Knowing that he had to work fast, Alex made sure that he still had the wolf's attention before cocking his arm back and letting fly with Sakuya's blossom.

The tightly wrapped flower twirled through the air…and exploded with color as it re-bloomed in midair and shot up to the ceiling, its petals rotating around just like the ones in the previous parts of the ruins.

Every eye in that room right then stared up at the flower with awe.

"_A Kohohana blossom…_one_ Konohana blossom!"_ the spider laughed. _"You may be more resourceful than you appear, human, but it will take more than a single one of the flowers for you and Amaterasu to defeat me!"_

The wolf, Amaterasu, recovered from her own shock at that moment, and took advantage of the opening to whip her tail around, quickly drawing line from the blossom to the Spider Queen's abdomen. A vine sprung into existence from the blossom, attaching to one of the odd hook-like protrusions on the spider's abdomen which Alex hadn't notice before, and the massive demon shrieked in surprise as the vine pulled it off balance.

Having been bought some time, Alex quickly looked around for the most important thing he needed right now.

His eyes settled on a small puddle of black blood, spilled from the eyes of the Spider Queen.

Dashing over, avoiding flying debris as the spider pulled herself free from the vine and went to attacking the wolf again, Alex ran up to the puddle and swept his sword through it in one clean motion, scooping up some of the demon blood and coating the surface of the blade.

As he expected, the blade began to glow.

Then it glowed brighter.

And brighter.

And even _more_ brightly after that.

"_Wait…w-what the heck? What's going on? !" _he mentally stammered, squinting as the blade's glow intensified to such levels that it actually hurt to look at it.

Holding it out and away from him, the blade suddenly thrust itself up into the air, seemingly of its own accord as its scintillating bright blue glow began to fill the entirety of the massive cavern.

Still holding onto it, Alex could only watch in awe as a single, metallic ring of the purest note he could imagine emanated from the weapon in unison with the intensifying glow.

"_What in the name of Yami…?"_ he heard the Spider Queen shout over the near-deafening ring, the demon turning to face him, its eyes settling on the blade and growing wide with horror.

" _Aku…AKU-HAMETSU? !"_ the mighty demon gasped._ "It…IT CANNOT BE!_ _That sword disappeared over a century ago!"_

Her words were lost on Alex, the man focused entirely on the sword as the same presence that he had discovered in his fight with Waka suddenly came to him again.

"_O mighty sword wielder! Defender of the Innocent! Slayer of Demons!"_ he heard a voice cry out in his mind, coming from the sword itself. _"With the sacrifice of your blood, and that of your sworn enemy, the greater demons of Nippon, the Oath of Sworn Blood has been initiated! My powers are now yours to wield, in defense of this land and its people! Wield my light against the shadows of evil that threaten to ensnare this world in darkness!"_

Strange words began to filter into Alex's mind, their meaning unknown to him.

Yet, somehow, he already knew just how important they were.

"_Speak the words of power that I now impart to you! Speak now, and receive the First Inheritance!"_

The words forced themselves to the front of his consciousness, blocking out all else, and Alex felt the power within him surge to the surface as the blade's ring reached a deafening pitch. Taking a deep breath, Alex opened his mouth and shouted as loudly as he could:

"_SHIN SUTORAIKI!"_

"_The First Inheritance! TRUE STRIKE!"_ the sword bellowed with him.

There was a loud _FWOOM, _and the blade's light immediately shifted into an aura of crackling energy, arcing around the blade and up Alex's arm.

"_Oh my God…"_ was all Alex could manage to think, bringing the blade down and staring at it with awe. Looking back at the Spider Queen, Alex could see a look of pure horror on the demon's ugly visage, the demon now backing away from _him._

"_Stay…Stay away from me!"_ it yelled, the fear now evident in her voice.

Using the opportunity, Amaterasu quickly created another vine, attaching to the spider and stopping her retreat.

"_AUGH! NO!"_ she screamed, the spider panicking as she struggled to free herself.

Seeing his chance, Alex rushed forward and raised the crackling blade high, chopping down at the closest spider leg.

Suddenly, the entire world around him seemed to bend and warp, like he was viewing it through a funhouse mirror. He got the briefest sensation of flying through the air…

…and found himself completely on the other side of the spider, in a kneeling position, right arm and sword pointing off to the side in a masterful swordsman pose.

"_W-wait…what th-!"_ he thought, looking around as he realized just where he was. _"Did…did I miss, or teleport, or something?"_

The answer, as it turned out, was neither. Standing up and looking behind him, Alex caught sight of glowing runes having suddenly appeared on the sides of each leg on the spider's left side, similar to the ones he had seen in the cave that he had first found the sword.

He also noticed that time seemed to have slowed down, the wolf, the Spider Queen, and even the bouncing green light moving in slow motion.

The runes on the spider's legs suddenly disappeared, time resumed its normal pace…

…and massive sprays of blood suddenly erupted from each of the Spider Queen's legs, as nearly half of each limb suddenly separated from the spider, falling to the ground like dominoes as a deafeningly loud shriek split the air.

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Hishou_)

"_Jesus Flippin' Christ…"_ Alex breathed, shaking his head an absolute disbelief.

The spider, now missing half of her legs, immediately lost her balance and toppled over, crashing to the ground and shaking the entire cavern as blood continued to pour from her severed limbs. Shrieking again in agony, the spider scrabbled to try and get up…but Amaterasu had other plans.

The wolf dashed forwards, and Alex suddenly saw the disc on her back vanish, replaced instantly by a massive two-handed sword that glowed a bright green, its entire length crackling with electricity. Leaping high into the air, Alex watched as the wolf's sword, seemingly of its own accord, sudden raised into an overhead chopping position, a different color glow emanating from it as power began to build up within the weapon. Striking down with crushing force, the blade smashed through the spider's skull, burying itself halfway through and sticking there. The spider's entire body went rigid as the electricity ran through it, paralyzing her and stopping her struggles where she lay.

Leaving the blade behind, Amaterasu instead flipped over the hilt of the weapon, landing on the spider's back as she dashed along the abdomen, jumping into the air again. This time, Alex saw her summon something that looked almost like a giant strand of yellow colored _prayer beads_, the wolf lashing out with them and wrapping the end of the string around one of the hook-like protrusions on the spider's abdomen, just like the vine that was still attached from Sakuya's blossom.

Landing on the ground, the wolf growled as she began to pull as hard as she could, and with a _whoosh_, the spider abdomen actually _opened up,_ like a giant flower, revealing a horrible writhing mass of eyeballs attached to stalks on the inside.

"_Now!"_ Alex heard the same female voice shout. _"Hit her NOW!"_

Looking down at his blade, which continued to crackle with vicious energy, Alex looked back to the wolf and nodded determinedly, whipping the blade out to his side as he dashed forwards towards the eyes. Summoning his ki power, he leaped high into the air, taking the blade in both hands and putting it into a downward stabbing postion.

"_Take THIS!" _he heard himself bellow, and jammed the blade into the exact center of the mass of eyeballs. He felt the entirety of the power within the blade suddenly surge downward…

…and the inside of the Spider Queen's abdomen suddenly exploded in a spray of guts and gore, as a massive lance of blue energy shot both down and UP from the blade. Alex felt himself get blasted backwards from the force of the explosion, the sword being torn from his grip as he flew through the air and hit the ground again, skidding to a stop against the wall.

The swirling nimbus of energy emanating from the sword that went upward suddenly tore into the ceiling of the cavern with a loud _'BOOOOOMMMM!'_, blasting through with such force that Alex actually caught sight of _sunlight_, as large chunks of rock and dirt came raining down on top of the giant spider demon, the entire cavern nearly caving in from the amazing power of the weapon.

Suddenly worried for Kuni, Alex looked up and saw, amazingly, that the web cradle the baby was in was still fully intact and unharmed, still attached to an intact portion of the ceiling just clear of the massive hole that had been torn in it.

"_Amazing…absolutely amazing…"_ he thought, just lying there and taking it all in.

Standing up, he suddenly felt incredibly weary and lightheaded, his body feeling like it had been completely drained of all its energy, and collapsed to the floor, going unconscious as his brain shut his body down for an emergency rest.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I know, another unconcious chapter ending, but at least it fits sorta.<strong>

**Anyways, I got some projects to wrap up, so play me out, Alex!**

**Alex: "Rate, review, and we'll see you next time!"**

**Also: ELDER SCROLLS SKYRIM OMG**


	15. More than Meets the Eye

**Alright! I'm kinda happy about this chapter, mainly because I consider it to be something of a capstone to what I guess will be Act 1 of my story here! Not only that, but I think the timing on this act-ending chapter was really good, because finals are coming up for me in college and I'll probably be studying hard for the next two weeks for 'em.**

**So, be sure to enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: More than Meets the Eye<strong>

_Darkness surrounded him…thick, impenetrable darkness that dulled the senses and made him blind to what was around him._

_He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He couldn't smell, taste, or touch what place he was in._

_But that was before the soft blue light had appeared to him…spoken to him…pulsing gently with each syllable of the words it uttered._

"_Fear not, Alexander Grey. I am not here to harm you…quite the opposite."_

"_Who…who are you?" came the expected question._

"_Who I am is not important at the moment. What you are destined to become matters _far_ more."_

"_What I'm going to become…? W-what happened? Where am I?"_

"_Do not worry. You are merely unconscious...though your heart nearly stopped from the amount of ki energy that you channeled through that strike."_

"_Then…is this a dream?"_

"_It is only a dream if you believe it to be."_

_The presence could sense confusion…and just beneath it, hopeless anxiety…misdirected rage._

"_I can understand if you are angry and confused, Alexander, but I cannot say anymore at this time. All I can tell you is that I am only here to help you."_

"_Then tell me what the hell is going on here!"_

"_I cannot…not yet."_

"_Tell me! Tell me now, or so help me…!"_

_There was a sudden split in the darkness above…a shaft of warm light shining through, striking Alex and making him cringe as he shielded his eyes._

_The soft blue light receded into the remaining shadows, its voice growing distant as it said, "It's time to wake up, Alex."_

"_Wait! What's going to happen? What am I supposed to do? !" Alex shouted, trying to chase after it, but unable to do so from the blinding light that was crushing down on him._

"_It's time to wake up….wake up…"_

"Hey, Tin-head! WAKE UP!"

Alex suddenly drew in a sharp gasp, letting out a heavy cough as fresh air surged to his lunges. His eyes refused to open more than just a crack, however, and he simply lay there, breathing hard as he fought to regain his bearings.

"I think he's coming to, Ammy! Hit him again!"

There was a soft _swish_ sound, and Alex suddenly felt a surge of energy hit him like a freight train, causing him to bolt upward into a sitting position and launching the tiny green-glowing person that had been standing on his chest.

"ACK! TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH!" the little ball of light screamed, as he flew through the air and hit the ground with a tiny puff of dust.

"Who-what-where? !" Alex stammered, looking around extremely fast…before coming face-to-face with red stripes, white fur, and deep, amber-colored eyes.

Normally, he would have been startled…but this was far from a normal situation, which he realized as he suddenly felt himself calm down, instead of scrambling to a safe distance.

It was the white wolf…she was sitting right there at his side, staring him straight in the eye…with a gaze that pierced right to the core of his being.

Again, he would have been startled by this, or shaken at the very least. When Oki had first appeared to him, the wolf had radiated an aura of strength and intimidation…but something about the white wolf's presence here seemed…pacifying. _Soothing_, almost.

"Are…" he began. "…are you…Amaterasu?"

The wolf cocked her head at him, in a manner that he would have thought cute, had he not been preoccupied with the whole "soul-piercing stare" thing.

"_You know of me, human?"_ the strong, yet gentle female voice echoed in his head, brushing lightly against his consciousness like a soft breeze.

"Uh…yes?" he said, unsure of what else to say.

A quiet _boing boing boing_ could be heard as the bouncy little ball of green light got back to his feet and hopped around excitedly.

"Ha! Told ya, Ammy!" he crowed. "There's _plenty_ of people who know about you now! And you thought I wasn't doing my job!"

Hopping back over to them, the little green man bounced rapidly in front of them, Alex watching him with curiosity written all over his face.

"Wait…what are you, some kind of bug-man or something?" he asked.

The bouncing stopped, and Alex saw the light slowly begin to shift from green to bright red.

"What did you just call me, Tin-head?" the tiny thing said.

"Um…'bug-man'?"

(_Okami OST – Issun's Theme_)

The ball of light suddenly shot into his face, and Alex fell back, shouting, "Hey, what th-! OW! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!", amidst shouts of "Call me a bug, will you!" and "C'mere! I just wanna rearrange your face a little bit!"

The wolf came over and, opening her mouth slightly, plucked the little man off of Alex's face, still swinging Denkomaru around and cursing about wolf spit as Amaterasu held him firmly in her mouth.

Alex came back up, rubbing the stinging marks on his cheek, before yelling, "What the heck was that for? !"

"_Sorry…he doesn't like it when he's called a bug…it's the helmet, really,"_ Amaterasu said to him, waiting for the tiny creature to eventually calm down before letting him go.

Hopping to the top of the wolf's head in a huff, the tiny man said, "For your information, Tin-head, I'm Issun, the Wandering Artist Extraordinaire! I'm what you'd call a poncle…NOT A BUG! ! !"

Calming himself, Issun continued. "And you'd best show some respect, buddy! This here wolf isn't just any ordinary canine! She's _the_ great Amaterasu, bona-fide Goddess of the Sun!"

"_Oh…so it's 'extraordinaire' now, is it?"_ Amaterasu said, looking up to the poncle on her head. _"I never knew you we're calling yourself that."_

"Uh…well…it's just…" Issun suddenly stammered, "Well, I thought that, seeing as how I was your Celestial Envoy and all, I could…"

"Uh, hey, hello?" Alex cut in. "Severely confused guy, right here! Looking for some answers, maybe?" he asked, shrugging in an almost sarcastic manner.

(_Okami OST – Silence of Stones_)

Both the poncle and the wolf looked at him, then back to each other, then at him again.

"Well…we were kinda hoping you'd give _us_ some answers, actually," the poncle stated. "From what I heard, you've got something to answer to Ammy about."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all about her searching for me…but considering that you just severely mauled my face, you think that, maybe…_just maybe_…I could get some answers first?" Alex asked.

"Wait!" Issun suddenly exclaimed. "You already knew she was after you? You two got a history I don't know about?"

"Hell no!" Alex stated. "I've never seen her before in my life!"

"_Then how did you know about me?"_ the wolf inquired.

Alex let off a sigh. "Well…I suppose I technically _have_ seen you before…though it was _through_ something."

"_Really? What is this thing you saw me through?"_

Alex pulled the small sack off his waist and opened it up, turned it upside down, and dumped the small pile of glass shards out, forming a little mound in front of him and the wolf.

"This used to be some kind of orb…I don't know where it came from, but when I first picked it up, some crazy-weird stuff started happening. It kept me warm in the freezing rain, lit up my room like a Christmas tree, and on top of everything…I think it showed me your fight with Orochi."

"_It did?"_

"In _exquisite_ detail," he answered.

"_Hmm…then perhaps I shall have a look at this orb for myself."_

"How? Look at the thing! It's totally busted!"

"_I have my ways."_

"What're you…" he began, but stopped, watching as the wolf lifted her tail again, causing ink to drip off the end of it. Bringing the tip close to the orb, she began to scribble madly over the glass shards, the ink appearing to hold its position in midair as if she were drawing on a painting.

Once the small mound of shards was thoroughly covered, she withdrew her tail, and the ink suddenly flew away with a _poof_…leaving behind a perfectly repaired glass orb, as clean and smooth as the day Alex had found it.

"Hey! You fixed it!" Alex exclaimed, picking it back up and examining it. "How'd you do that?"

"She's a Brush God, Tin-head!" Issun piped up. "What you just saw was the magnificent power of Rejuvination!"

"So, wait…you really _are_ drawing things?With your tail? Using ink?" Alex slowly asked.

"That's the gist of it, Tin-head!"

"Stop calling me that."

"What? Tin-head?"

"Yeah. It's annoying!"

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?"

"…I'm gonna squish you, little bug man."

"Now see here, Tin-head! I oughta…!"

"_Enough!"_ Amaterasu barked, immediately silencing them both. _"Now then…er, what is your name?"_

"Alex…call me Alex," the man replied, directing the statement more towards Issun than the wolf.

"_Of course…Alex,"_ she said. _"If you would be so kind…"_

Looking down at the orb in his hand, Alex slowly held it out to her, and watched as the wolf leaned forward and touched her nose to it.

Her form suddenly flashed a brilliant white for a second, some kind of power within the wolf briefly revealing itself…and the orb suddenly burst to life again, glowing with the same fiery power it had when Alex had found it, the static kanji symbol back in its place in the center.

Only this time, something about the orb was different.

The fire wasn't its original orange-red color…it was _blue._

The wolf suddenly drew her head back, as if startled by the sudden event, her amber eyes never leaving the orb.

"_That was…odd…"_ she said at last.

"What the heck?" Alex muttered, holding the orb out before him. "It wasn't this color when I first found it! Why the hell is it _blue_ now?"

"_I don't know…but I recognize what this is. This is one of my spirit globes!"_ Amaterasu stated.

"A spirit globe? !" Issun gawked. "B-but how did _he_ find it?"

"I…I found it in a garbage pile! Look, you gotta believe me, I have no idea what this thing does!" Alex stammered. "If you want it back, I can…!"

"Wait a second…" Issun interrupted. "If that's a spirit globe…then why haven't you absorbed it yet, Ammy?"

"_I don't know…perhaps it has something to do with the change in color?"_ The white wolf slowly approached the orb and sniffed at it gingerly, before asking Alex, _"Did this orb do anything…strange, after you found it?"_

"You mean _besides_ absorbing an electrical shock and teleporting me here?" Alex deadpanned, though his humor was lost on the wolf and poncle, who were both staring at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

"What? Is that bad, or something? I mean, _besides_ the obvious?"

"_It TELEPORTED you here? How?"_ the wolf demanded to know.

"I just told you, it absorbed an electrical shock! Somehow, it set something off with the orb, and the next thing I know, I'm being _engulfed_ by this light, and then I ended up here in this crazy ass world with talking animals and giant demons trying to rip me apart!"

"Pretty broad explanation, Tin-head."

"Look, believe me or not, that's what happened!" Alex snapped, quickly growing irritated with the pint-sized poncle.

"_How very interesting…"_ the wolf muttered, nosing the orb again. _"Perhaps the change in color has to do with this electrical shock of yours?"_

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"_Spirit globes are…oh, how would you say this…for me, these orbs possess the power to heal any wounds that I sustain in battle…in essence, they contain a small portion of divine spirit energy that only Brush Gods can access."_

"Ok…but what are you getting at?"

"_Perhaps this electrical shock of yours…do you think there is any chance that it may have…_imprinted_ a part of yourself upon the orb?"_

"W-wait…_what?"_

"_I saw your ki energy flare up when you delivered the killing blow to the spider…a brilliant flame, colored a rather beautiful shade of blue I might add, very similar to the flame now in this orb,"_ she stated. _"Perhaps, when this 'incident' of yours occurred, some small portion of your ki was transferred to the orb?"_

"Aw hell, I wouldn't know. To be honest, I'm still getting the hang of using ki."

"Huh? You didn't seem to have any trouble using it on that spider!" Issun said. "Just take a look for yourself!"

Looking past the wolf, towards the center of the large cavern, Alex got a first-hand look at his handiwork.

The Spider Queen's corpse was splayed out across the floor, legs both attached and severed stretching every-which-way. The demon's face was frozen in a permanent grimace, Amaterasu's massive two-handed sword still lodged in its skull. Looking further back, towards the spider's opened abdomen, Alex could barely make out his sword, still jammed into the center mass, coated in black blood and gore from the explosive power it had unleashed.

Looking up, Alex could see a massive rent having appeared in the ceiling, sunlight pouring through from the surface far above and casting a rather symbolic-looking shaft of light upon his weapon, pointing hilt-first into the air.

He could also see the dirt and dust-covered web cradle still hanging from the ceiling above the carnage below, bobbing gently in the cool air current that had begun flowing through the cave, clearing out the stench of the place.

"Aw, crap!" he cursed, quickly placing the orb back in the bag and tying it back to his waist. "You guys didn't get him down yet? ! What the hell!"

Standing up quickly, he tried to make his way over, but found himself unable to move very far as a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him again. Clutching at his head as vertigo took effect, he stretched his arm out as he nearly lost his balance, and suddenly felt the press of warm fur against his hand, the white wolf having moved up next to him so that he could lean against her and support himself.

"_Easy…you don't have much strength to be moving around."_

"What the hell…" he muttered again, steadying himself. "It feels like I just got floored by a semi!"

"_That attack of yours…the one that nearly obliterated the cavern ceiling…drained so much of your ki that your heart nearly stopped. I had to use Rejuvenation on you in order to revive you."_

"Was that the jolt I felt when I was waking up?" he asked.

The wolf nodded. _"Unfortunately, Rejuvenation cannot fully restore energy or heal wounds…it can only call upon the deeper reserves of strength within a person, allowing for a huge, temporary burst of activity…or enough energy to get them on their feet, so that they may retreat to a safe place to rest."_

"So…I'm running on borrowed time?"

"_You'll live for now, and you should have enough energy to make it back to the village. But you're going to need a _long_ nap after this, that much is certain."_

"Fine by me…" Alex said. "But we still gotta get the kid down."

"Whose kid _is_ that, anyways?" Issun piped up.

"Susano and Kushi's."

"You're _kidding!_ They finally did it? !" the poncle exclaimed. "Ha! Looks like Pops managed to put the moves on Kushi, alright! Just like I said, eh Furball?"

The wolf said nothing, but took note of Alex's suddenly confused look.

"Something I should know about?" he eventually asked.

"_For your own good…no, not really,"_ the wolf replied.

"Right then…think you guys can give me a hand getting the kid down?"

"Sure thing, Tin-head!" Issun said. "One good power slash, and…!"

"Whoa, WHOA…" Alex broke in, holding his hand out in a stopping motion. "Power slash? That doesn't sound very safe!"

"Don't worry! Furball's aim is really good! She'll cut the kid down from there, and you can catch him!"

"Catch him? ! Are you _crazy? !_"

"Not since I last checked, no," the poncle deadpanned. "…but if you're not comfortable with that, Ammy can use some Mist to help out with your timing."

"Mist?"

"_It will be easier just to show it to you_,_"_ Amaterasu said. _"Just position yourself under the baby, and I will handle the rest."_

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Alex turned and did as she said, clambering up onto the spider's giant corpse (after giving it a few kicks to make sure it was really dead) and moving into position right beneath where the baby's web cradle hung from the ceiling.

"Ok, ready!" he called out. "Let 'er go!"

The wolf whipped her tail around, drawing a slashing line of ink across the air, and with a quiet _shink_, the web cradle suddenly fell from the ceiling, Alex quickly dancing around to catch it.

Amaterasu immediately whipped her tail about some more, drawing two horizontal lines in the air, and Alex suddenly felt a damp chill in the air, thick and cloying mist forming around him.

Amazingly…the baby's fall slowed to a near stand-still, and it was a simple matter for Alex to simply hold out his arms and wait for the blanket-swaddled bundle to float down into his arms.

The mist suddenly cleared as quickly as it had come, and as time resumed its normal pace, Alex looked down and saw Kuni laughing in a very baby-ish way, clapping his hands and clearly wanting to do it again. With the exception of a few smears of dirt and dust, the baby remained completely unharmed.

Looking back up to the wolf, he exclaimed, "You can slow down time, too? ! That's _awesome!"_

"More than awesome, Tin-head…it's a genuine, Brush God miracle!" Issun said.

"What else can you do?" Alex asked, genuine interest in his voice as he climbed down from atop the spider. "Create water out of thin air? Or better yet, turn _into_ water?"

"_Not like that, no. I cannot create certain elements at will, only manipulate what is already there,"_ Amaterasu explained. _"And these powers are things that I only use when the time is appropriate."_

"In other words, don't ask for a demonstration, Tin-head! We ain't handing out free shows!" Issun said.

Alex nodded, and then suddenly remembered that he was forgetting something. Turning around, he spotted his sword, still lodged in place in the spider's abdomen, and handed Kuni to Amaterasu.

"Hold this for a second," he said, before jogging back over to the Spider Queen's corpse and climbing up, as Amaterasu held the blanket bundle that was Kuni by a strand of webbing in her jaws.

As he climbed into the open abdomen and drew close to the sword, Alex suddenly stopped…

He heard something…chanting. A ghostly sounding, yet powerful chorus of voices, echoing through his consciousness.

"Hey, Tin-head! What's the holdup?" Issun called out from below.

"Can't you guys hear that?" he called back, never taking his eyes off the sword, which had quietly begun to glow again.

"Hear what? The sound of the wind passing through your ears?" the poncle joked, chuckling before Amaterasu shushed him.

Slowing resuming his pace, Alex came closer to the sword, the chanting growing louder and louder as he came right up next to it, the glow intensifying with his proximity.

Reaching out, Alex hesitated for a brief moment.

The chanting reached a mighty climax…wisps of blue fire began to radiate from the hilt of the sword and wrap around his outstretched arm…and he closed his hand around the hilt.

A massive surge of energy suddenly shot from the sword and through the spider's corpse below him, making it twitch unsettlingly…

…and the body began to burn.

Glowing blue embers began to lift from its body and float into the air, as more wisps of blue fire began to twist and writhe around the spider's corpse, running upwards as they began to swirl around _him_.

Finding himself surrounded by a swirling nimbus of blue fire, Alex slowly pulled his sword the rest of the way out. Watching as the energy fed itself through him and into the weapon, the blade continued to glow as the presence within it suddenly spoke out:

"_In my victory, I claim this demon's soul as my prize! May your evil presence never scourge this land again, foul monster!"_

Power surged through the weapon again, the blade shaking in Alex's grip as the Spider Queen's soul continued to feed into it. This power then began transferring itself to _Alex_, the blade sharing the bounty with the one who had so bravely wielded it against its foes.

Alex could feel the exhaustion disappearing from his body, and _then some._ He could actually _feel_ the power radiating through him, constantly growing along with the sword's own increasing power.

Straightening out and looking into the sky above, Alex closed his eyes as the power surged through him…

…and suddenly, it stopped.

Opening his eyes, and looking back down, he could see Amaterasu and Issun staring at him with shocked expressions on their faces, Kuni's bundle still hanging from the wolf's jaw.

"_With this soul, our power grows, Alexander Grey!" _the sword stated triumphantly._ "Stand tall and proud…Demonslayer!"_

With those words, the sword's glow flashed blindingly bright for a split-second, and then vanished…leaving behind a small runic design situated on the side of the blade, right above the hilt, looking vaguely like an eight-legged spider.

"_Whoa…just…whoa…"_ he thought, taking the blade in both hands as he looked at the symbol that had appeared.

Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted when Alex suddenly felt the corpse of the spider giving way beneath him, the body rapidly turning to ash and crumbling away as fiery continued to float upwards around him. Quickly regaining his senses, Alex jumped off the spider's abdomen and landed on the ground with a heavy _whumph_, standing back up just in time to see the body completely disintegrate into blue-glowing ash.

Amaterasu's sword slipped from the spider's skull and hit the ground with a loud _clang_, echoing off into the distance with an odd sense of finality.

"_Well…that's that, I guess,"_ he thought, shrugging as he turned to walk away.

Hearing a high-pitched _whoosh_ behind him, Alex turned back around to see the particles coalescing together, forming a tightly packed ball of glowing blue ash...

…before the whole thing exploded away, scattering ash everywhere and leaving something behind…something Alex squinted to see as it was revealed in the sunlight.

"_What the…is that a _cloak?_"_

Suddenly, the cloak, for it was indeed a cloak, began to spin around rapidly, flying through the air and straight towards him.

Holding out his arms and sword to shield himself, Alex was immensely surprised when the cloak suddenly veered off at the last second, going around and quickly coming up behind him.

Before he realized what had happened, the cloak had fastened itself around his neck comfortably, settling into position across his back as it hung down to his feet, the fabric situated underneath the sheath of his sword so that it wouldn't get in the way.

"_The Spidersilk Cloak…"_ the sword suddenly whispered in his mind. _"…for when discretion serves as the better part of valor."_

"_The better part of valor? What the heck is _that_ supposed to mean? !"_ he shot back at the weapon's presence, but it had already retreated from his mind.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Alex chose instead to examine his newest acquisition, grabbing an edge of the cloak and bringing it around to look at it. Seeing it close up, Alex noticed that the outside of it was colored a deep black, serving as a nice complement to his silvery armor and black leather under-layer. The underlay of the cloak, however, was a simple slate grey color.

Alex also noticed that the cloak was rather light and billowy, made with enough excess material to be able to be pulled over his shoulders and cover the front of his armor. It also came with a hood…useful for keeping the rain off.

"_Ok…so I've got something to keep the rain off…but what does it do?"_

His thoughts were interrupted when Issun came bouncing up, yelling, "What the heck, Tin-head! What happened right there? !"

"I…I have _no_ idea…" Alex said, sharing the poncle's confusion and unable to answer him any further.

"Oh, I think you _do_ have an idea, buddy!" Issun countered. "This whole thing seems pretty suspicious if you ask me!"

"_Issun, stop badgering him!" _Amaterasu cut in, walking up with Kuni's web cradle still in her mouth and her jade green sword slung across her back. _"He's telling the truth…believe me, I can tell."_

"Yeah, but…what about the…!" Issun began, before a growl from the wolf cut him off.

"Oh, fine…but I'm keeping an eye on you, Tin-head!" the poncle said, hopping back up to Amaterasu's head. "Try anything suspicious or weird like that again, and you'll have Denkomaru to answer to!"

"_Yeah, right, like you could do anything to me, you little freak,"_ Alex thought smugly.

Suddenly, a smooth, joyous laugh cut through the air and reached their ears.

"_Bravo! Se magnifique, Monsieur Alex!"_

"Oh no…" both Alex and Issun muttered at the same time, Amaterasu remaining silent and looking in the direction that the voice had come from, spotting a familiar flash of pink cloth.

Waka came striding up to the top of the ledge that served as the entrance to the cavern, simply stepping off the edge and coming down lightly on his feet.

"For the second time, you prove your worth! I simply knew that you had what it took, mon ami! And to absorb the beast's soul as well…such is a rare opportunity, indeed!"

"No thanks to you!" Alex shot back at him. "Your stupid prophecy almost got me _killed!_ If I wasn't hurting from at least seven different injuries right now, I'd come over there and give you _another_ black eye!"

"No, thank you…one is quite enough," the Tao Master replied. Turning to Amaterasu, he gave her a curt nod as he walked up. "I trust the spider wasn't _too_ much of a problem, ma Cherie?"

"_Not really…but didn't I tell you to wait at the entrance?"_

"Technically, no…but either way, I simply could not resist seeing your fighting prowess again. It fills my heart with such vigor to see you dance around so gracefully like that in the heat of battle."

"_Wait…is he…? Oh, son-of-a…" _Alex thought, resisting the urge to facepalm right then and there. _"Is he seriously hitting on her? TELL ME that he's not hitting on her! She's a _wolf_, for Pete's sake!"_

Amaterasu said nothing, but simply sat down on her haunches and yawned, in a way that almost seemed like she had heard it all before. _"Still as poetic as ever, I see…but now is not the time, Waka."_

"_Oui!"_ the Waka replied. "As fate would have it, it seems that my Tao Troopers have alerted me to business elsewhere that simply _must_ be attended to! Sorry to break up the team so soon, ma Cherie, but it simply cannot wait, I'm afraid."

Issun snorted derisively, but didn't say anything, clearly thinking that the Tao Master was full of crap.

"_Oh, go on then," _Amaterasu said, with the tone of a reluctant mother. _"Go and take care of what you have to, but don't take too long…there's still business to be taken care of."_

The Tao Master smiled, knowing that she didn't really mind…the longer she and Waka took to complete their business concerning Alex, the longer she could stay to reconcile with her friends…so long as the other Brush Gods patience held out. Bowing low, he said, "Not to worry, Amaterasu…I shall make all due haste, I assure you."

Turning to leave, he said over his shoulder, "Until next time, ma Cherie…" Taking a mighty leap into the air, Waka cleared the massive ledge in a single bound, landing lightly on the edge before turning and calling down.

"Oh! One last thing, Monsieur Alex! I have another prophecy that you may be interested in hearing!"

"_Oh, perfect…another life-threatening piece of advice from the fruit basket,"_ Alex mentally quipped, crossing his arms as he listened.

Spinning around and whipping his flute back and forth, Waka struck his jaunty pose before saying, "Be mindful in the future! Those who play with fire often find themselves being the ones who are burnt!"

"_Kinda obvious...but ok."_

"Farewell, mes amis!" the Tao Master finished. "Until we all meet again!" And with that, he disappeared from sight.

"Friggin' weirdo…" both Alex and Issun said at the same time, the two of them suddenly looking at each other with confused looks.

"Huh? You hate him too?" Issun asked.

"Are you kidding? Who _wouldn't_ hate that weirdo fruit basket? !" Alex exclaimed.

"Huh…" Issun said again, after a moment. "…you might just be alright, buddy."

* * *

><p>Outside of the ruins, a good ways out in front of the entrance, Oki and Susano came out of the brush, both men hefting their respective swords as they came to a stop and examined the open door.<p>

Pulling his blade out, Oki set to grinding a small, hand-sized whetstone against it, sharpening its edge as Susano whipped out his massive two-hand wooden sword and performed a few basic maneuvers with it to limber up for the battles that were sure to be ahead.

"Kuni should be somewhere in there…along with Alex." Oki began. "Tell me, Susano…how far would you be willing to go to rescue your son?"

"What kind of question is _that_, Wolf-boy?" the gruff warrior answered, thumping his chest with a large fist. "What would you do if that was _your_ son in there?"

Oki stopped for a moment, looking up and staring at nothing, before eventually going back to grinding the edge of his sword.

"I do not have any children…" he began. "…but, if we are speaking hypothetically…then I would go to the ends of the earth to protect him. I would _die _to ensure that he lived."

"Then you've got your answer, Wolf-boy."

The answer caught the Oina man off guard for a moment…and he realized that although Susano might not have appeared as great a warrior as he was made out to be, what the Kamiki Warrior lacked in skill, he made up for in spirit. Oki was certain that Susano would see this though, no matter what. He wouldn't stop until he was either dead, or until Kuni was safe back in his arms…whatever came first.

Pocketing the whetstone, Oki nodded to Susano, the Kamiki Warrior nodding in return, and the two turned to face the entrance to the ruins…and whatever lay within.

Given their preparedness, both were genuinely surprised when they saw a man wearing silvery-grey samurai armor and a black cloak suddenly just come walking out the door, carrying a small, blanket wrapped bundle in one hand, and his helmet in the other.

Noticing the two men standing there, the man that was undoubtedly Alex stopped dead and looked at them…first with confusion, and then with a look of relief as the man visibly relaxed.

"Alex?" Oki asked.

"Alex, and…_Kuni?"_ Susano breathed, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

The man said nothing, only nodding as he placed the helmet loosely back on his head and held Kuni out in both arms, towards the Kamiki Warrior.

Taking a slow, halting step forward, the sword slipped from Susano's suddenly weak grasp.

He took another step, and another, his pace quickening until he was running pell-mell towards Alex.

Without waiting for an explanation, Susano swept Kuni into his arms the moment he got within range…

And father and son were finally reunited.

(_Chrono Cross OST – Another Arni_)

He breathing growing heavy and emotional, the once gruff and burly Kamiki Warrior looked down upon the bundle in his arms…Kuni's tiny hands reaching out to grab at his father's giant nose.

Closing his eyes as emotion overcame him, Susano could feel a small tear of gratefulness leak out the corner of his eye and soak into his beard, a tight-lipped smile spreading across his face as he reached up to touch the hand of his beautiful baby boy.

The look on Susano's face, right then and there, made it all worth it to Alex, the man smiling and trying to keep from getting a little emotional himself as he stood back and watched the happy reunion.

As Susano continued to stand there, Oki came up beside him, first staring at the baby, and then to Alex.

"So…you rescued him, then?" the Oina man said at length.

Alex nodded solemnly, before saying, "Not by myself, though…I got some help near the end of it."

"Help? From who?"

Alex said nothing again, but simply stood aside, as a being that Oki would have never expected came out the door behind the man.

Spotting Oki, Amaterasu suddenly stopped, recognition lighting up her features as she looked upon the Oina man.

For a minute, neither of them spoke, as they continued to stare at each other.

"Hey! If it ain't ole' Fuzz-for-Brains himself! Where've you- _MMMFFFF! ! !" _Issun began, before he was silenced by Alex, the man quickly reaching out and grabbing the entirety of Issun's body in his hand, muffling the poncle's voice.

Several moments passed after the brief interruption, before Oki took a long, drawn out breath, and said:

"We meet again, White One."

"_So it would seem…Okikurmi," _came the smooth voice that he had waited for almost an entire year to hear again.

Taking notice of Alex, struggling to keep his fist closed as Issun struggled to break free, Amaterasu said to the Oina man, _"Come…walk we me for a moment."_

Oki nodded, following the white wolf into the forest as a loud _"OW!"_ was heard behind them, Issun managing to draw Denkomaru and prick Alex's hand with it, freeing himself and hopping up the man's arm to his shoulder plate.

"Sheesh, Tin-head!" he exclaimed, his glow a bright red. "You're lucky Ammy's so keen on talking with you, or there'd be a lot more where THAT came from!"

Alex only smirked to himself, despite the stinging mark on his hand, until Susano slowly came up to him and stared him in the eye.

"You…you found him?" the Kamiki Warrior asked, appearing to have regained control of himself.

Alex slowly nodded…to which Susano also nodded in recognition of that fact.

"I…will not forget this act of kindness. You have my eternal gratitude for saving my only son…anytime, no matter what, you will be welcome in our household."

With those words, Susano reached out and pulled Alex into a crushing hug with his free arm, the armored man suddenly choking and beating on the Kamiki Warrior's back as he struggled for air, with Issun laughing long and hard.

* * *

><p>Walking through the brush slowly, Amaterasu and Oki made their way to a nearby out cropping of rocks, the white wolf hopping up onto one and sitting down as she looked back to the Oina man at equal eye level.<p>

"_It has been a long time, Oki," _she began.

"Far too long, White One," Oki answered. "I trust that all is well within…your home."

"_Well enough, I would suppose…there are still stirrings of unrest, through…disturbances that refuse to rest."_

"Such as?"

"_Well…Alex, for one."_

"Alex…a disturbance?" the Oina warrior said, his eyes frowning through his mask.

"_Has he not told you, yet? How he came to be here?"_

"…Not entirely, I suppose. I simply took him to be a foreigner to Nippon…a man from a far-off land, brought here by forces beyond his control."

Going over and sitting down beside her, Oki continued. "When I found him, he was wandering lost through the forest, being attacked by the demons that had invaded the place. I rescued him, and took him in…trained him in the ways of the sword."

"_YOU trained him?"_ she exclaimed.

"Is that truly such a surprise?"

"_Well…no, I suppose not. Still, you never really struck me as the 'mentor' type."_

"There are many things about me that you may not yet know, Amaterasu."

"_Such as?"_ she asked coyly, turning the tables against him now.

"Things that I would rather keep to myself," he answered, countering with his usual stoicism.

"_Oh…I see."_

"Still, there is one thing that you should be aware of, Amaterasu."

"_Yes?"_

"The demons have begun to make a return, it would seem. I know not the circumstances of your victory over them, when you disappeared into the Ark a year ago, but something is bringing them back…and you may yet be our only real hope in sending them back to where they came from, and ultimately bringing peace back to Nippon."

She said nothing, but began to pant and wag her tail as she looked at him.

Somehow, he knew that she was laughing.

(_Okami OST – Oki's Theme_)

"_Oh, please, Oki! That's the corniest thing that I have ever heard from you! Do you honestly expect me to believe that you left your home in Kamui and searched all of Nippon for me, on a hunch that you MIGHT just find me, only so you could tell me something that I already know?"_

Although she couldn't see his face, she could tell that he was smirking.

"Truly, it is good to see you again, Amaterasu," he said, before standing and walking off into the forest to rejoin Alex and Susano, leaving her sitting there on the rock as she watched him go.

Tilting her head and making a confused sound in her throat, Amaterasu slowly hopped off the rock and padded after him, huffing slightly as she went.

* * *

><p><em>With flashing steel and burning fire, the young hero known as Alex had entered into Nippon. <em>

_No one knew where he came from, or what his purpose was, but one thing was certain: the powers watching over him that day were not to be trifled with._

_The Spider Queen, the dreaded monster that had once before plagued Agata Forest, had been reduced to little more than ash, her foul soul stolen away by the mysterious and powerful sword that Alex now clutched so tightly in his hands...the sword now known as Aku-Hametsu, as the dreaded spider had said before her demise._

_Neither Alex, nor any other, knew what other powers lay within the steel of the mighty weapon, but brave Amaterasu and Issun could not deny the strength that it already held, having witnessed it firsthand._

_But such things could be thought about later…for with his head held high, and his heart beating strong, Alex returned to Kamiki Village with his newfound allies…knowing, in the back of his mind, that his journey had only just begun._

(_Okami OST – Curse_)

_But the questions that had plagued him since his arrival continued to buzz maddeningly in his head…why was he brought here? What was the mysterious presence that had contacted him through his dreams? What did the future hold for him?_

_The answers would only reveal themselves with time…_

* * *

><p>In the darkness, an ancient presence stirred.<p>

_It has begun._

_The sword has awoken._

_Rise my brothers and sisters…rise and listen._

_Find him._

_Find him._

_Kill him._

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! First act done! *cracks knuckles*<strong>

**Just a quick note: for that little bit of narration near the end, I had the same kind of sequence in mind as the epic narrator from Okami, complete with the same style of awsome ink pictures as well. I plan to have little sections like these at the end of each "act", so I suppose at those times, you can think up appropriate images to go along with the words if you want to.**

**Anyways, I'm off to study for finals, so rate, review, and I'll see you next time!**


	16. A Little Thing Called R&R

**Whew! Finals are done and it's time for the good ole' holidays! *Throws confetti to a chorus of cheers***

**Yes! And now it's time to get this story underway again! Now that I've got some more free time, I might (keyword: MIGHT) be able to start getting chapters in a tad sooner. Depends on how lazy I'm feeling, really :/**

**Anyways, enjoy this next chapter, the beginning of Act 2!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: A Little Something Called R&amp;R<strong>

"Seriously, Ishi, I'm fine!"

"No you're not! Now sit still and stop acting like a child!"

"_OW! Watch it!"_

Such were the sounds heard from inside Village Healer Ishi's home, as she worked to bandage up the wounds that Alex had sustained during his rescue of Kuni. Upon Alex's return to the village, the healer had insisted upon tending to his injuries right away, giving him little to no time to speak with Amaterasu, Issun, Oki, Gizo, Mr. Orange, Susano, or even Kushi, who was positively ecstatic over the safe return of her child.

As such, a small group comprised of the various parties had assembled outside the door to Ishi's home, waiting for her to finish with Alex so that they could speak with him themselves. This, of course, was after many joyous reintroductions had been made between Amaterasu and the other villagers, which had involved many people falling onto their knees and giving thankful prayers to her and the other Brush Gods. As it turned out, many of them still carried their faith in her, despite the reinstated presence of the demons, which served as long-lasting proof of the many deeds she had done for the village…and the friends she had made.

While she certainly appreciated the attention, and the small, yet noticeable boost to her energy from faith restored, it had taken her quite a lot of time to explain to the villagers that she most likely wouldn't be staying for very long, and as such, it would be best that they didn't fall to their knees in prayer every time they laid eyes on her.

After some more time had passed, the door creaked open, and Alex came out, wearing his regular kimono with the exception of his overcoat and the top half of his central robe, which had been left off in order to allow access to his injuries. Numerous bandages crisscrossed his exposed chest, one particularly large one fitted with strips of bamboo to provide a sort of chest brace. Others were circled around his shoulder, and others still were used to patch up some of the various cuts and bruises that he had around other parts of his body.

Needless to say, the young man had seen better days…but that didn't stop Kushi from dashing forward and wrapping him up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you, _thank you!_" she repeated over and over, seemingly oblivious to Alex's pained shout as he struggled to break free.

"AHHHHH! FRESH WOUNDS! FRESH WOUNDS, KUSHI!"

"Oh, yes, my mistake!" she said apologetically, quickly catching on and letting him go. "But still, _thank you!_ You saved my beloved baby boy! Oh, how can we ever repay you?"

"Maybe by giving Amaterasu one of those big hugs, instead?" he wheezed, trying to catch his breath. "She helped too, you know!"

She did just that, giving "Snowy"a similarly crushing hug around the wolf's neck.

"Aw, it was our pleasure, Kushi! Just keep a better eye on the kid, ok?" Issun said.

"Not to worry, Greenie," Susano said, coming up to them. "I'll make sure that no demon ever touches him again, or my name is not _SUSANO THE MIGHTY!"_ he bellowed, making everyone around him flinch away at the volume of his voice.

"Uh…right…you do that, Pops."

In the meantime, the barrel-chested Gizo had pushed his way to the center of the crowd that had gathered around Alex, the people asking him numerous questions about his little adventure, as well as offering him their praise and thanks for his heroic deed. Coming right up to Alex, the blacksmith crossed his arms as Alex took notice of him and visibly grimaced.

"Uh…heh heh…" he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "You're probably wondering about that armor, huh?"

Gizo nodded slowly, a stern look on his face as he looked over to see Ishi dump the pile of metal plating and leather padding out her door, as well as Alex's sword, cleaning her hands off as she shook her head at the stench of Alex's dried sweat, combined with the scent of dead fish and bud ogre goop.

"…Funny you should ask…you see…"

Gizo held his hand up, stopping any forthcoming words from Alex.

"Did you find the armor to your satisfaction, at least?" the blacksmith asked.

"Uh…yeah…saved my life a couple times, in fact…but, did you want it back?"

Gizo looked back to the pile of armor, which was starting to attract some flies, and then back to Alex.

"Perhaps, given your most recent deeds, I will allow you to hold onto it for now," he said. "However…I was not planning to sell that armor for a very cheap amount…so you will need to pay it off in some way."

"…By working for you, I'm guessing?"

Gizo nodded. "I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Bring the armor, some gloves, and plenty of water. The forge can get rather hot around midday."

Alex grimaced again, but nodded. As Gizo walked away, Oki came up behind the young man and put a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Look at it this way, Alex…" he began. "Blacksmithing is a very honorable profession, and time spent at the forge will do wonders for building your strength and stamina, as well as toughening your skin."

Going around in front of him, Oki continued. "Of course, there is also the matter of continuing your training."

"Oh, _come on!_" Alex complained. "You're still gonna put me through that?"

"The forge will prepare you for the battles ahead physically, but there is still the mental aspect that you must learn…memorizing techniques and all that. You've done well in rescuing Kuni, that much I will give you, but your training is still _far_ from complete."

"Ugh…" Alex groaned, sitting down on the ground, already feeling the intense exhaustion that would be hitting him in the near future, as the crowd around him slowly dispersed.

"We'll begin tomorrow…after Gizo lets you go, of course," Oki stated matter-of-factly, before turning and walking off himself.

Shaking his head and heaving a great sigh, Alex looked over to see Amaterasu sitting on her haunches and staring at him.

"What?" he asked irritably.

"_Oh, nothing,"_ she replied, smiling a wolfish smile.

"Ok, then…well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna head out now."

Standing, grabbing his sword off the armor pile, and walking off, Alex heard the sound of paw steps behind him. Turning to look back at Amaterasu, he saw the wolf quickly sit down again as he stopped, staring at him with that same peculiar look. Issun seemed to be preoccupied with something else atop her head, having pulled a sheet of parchment paper and a brush out of nowhere and setting to drawing something with a few strokes.

"Look," he began, slipping the sword on around his chest. "I'd love to stay and chat with you guys, but right now, I just want a drink and a nice long nap in my b-"

"You ain't gonna get it, Tinhead, trust me," Issun remarked nonchalantly, continuing to paint on the paper. "When Ammy here wants something, she gets it…and right now, she wants a nice, _long_ chat with you."

"…Uh…ok…" Alex slowly said, starting to feel a bit creeped out. Taking one step back, he saw Amaterasu stand and take exactly one step forward, sitting back down again and continuing to stare at him.

Turning on his heel, Alex tore off down the village path as fast as he could, muttering, "Ow, ow, ow, ow…" as his freshly bandaged injuries began to sting madly.

"_Should I go after him, Issun?"_ Ammy said, looking up to the poncle.

Looking around his paper at the retreating man, Issun went back to painting and said, "Nah, let's give him a head start…let him _think_ he's getting away."

Limping along as best he could while ignoring the odd looks the other villagers were giving him, Alex passed by his and Oki's house and immediately made for the path leading up to Konohana, sneaking a glance behind him and seeing no signs of pursuit from the wolf and the annoying bug she hung out with.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out to calm himself, Alex slowed down as he reached the fork in the path and went left, taking it nice and slow around the bend before coming into sight of the giant cherry tree.

And Amaterasu, laying down beneath the boughs and appearing as though she had been waiting for him.

Alex stopped, suddenly confused beyond reason, pointing both ways as he sputtered out, "How'd…you…but…"

Alex eventually realized that he'd been caught, and heaving another great sigh, slowly trudged over to wolf before slumping down against the giant tree trunk beside her, feeling the press of his sword against his back.

"Ok…whaddya want to know?" he asked in surrender.

"_Start from the beginning. Tell me _everything._"_

(_Wolf's Rain OST – Beyond Me_)

And so they sat there, reclining beneath the swaying branches of Konohana, Amaterasu listening as Alex began to talk about his home in San Francisco, his job, his current living state…_everything_, just like she had asked.

She occasionally pitched in a question or two, but mostly remained silent, taking it all in and not showing any signs of whether she understood what he was talking about or not. Issun in the meantime mostly focused on whatever he was painting, silently listening as Alex wove his tale about a "great city near the sea" and "the Bridge of Golden Gates."

As he continued to talk, Alex came to the eventual realization that…well, it was the damndest thing, but he actually felt _comfortable_ talking to her, despite that fact that she was a wolf-goddess who was clearly sent to find and interrogate him about who he was and how he was brought here.

Strangely enough, though…he didn't really mind.

Around her, the sun seemed to feel warmer, the air seemed to blow more gently, and everything else just seemed so…peaceful.

Even the cherry petals falling from Konohana seemed brighter, somehow.

Eventually, Oki could be seen coming up the hill, silently moving into place beside Amaterasu as he too sat down and listened in, seeming content to simply put his hands behind his head and stare up at the sky, watching the clouds go by.

The sudden casualness of the normally serious Oina man was not lost on Alex…having known about Oki's search for Amaterasu several days before (without telling anyone, of course), it came as no real surprise to Alex when he noticed how Oki was acting.

Smiling to himself, Alex decided to let it slide and watched as the sun slowly drifted down and met the horizon, the sky turning a brilliant orange as they all watched the sunset.

Yes…there was _definitely_ something about her.

Unbeknownst to them (except maybe Amaterasu), Sakuya was there as well, sitting on one of Konohana's tree branches, smiling to herself, and offering her silent thanks to Alex, Amaterasu, and Issun, the brave protectors of Kamiki, for restoring peace to the village.

The day had been filled with all sorts of surprises, dangers, odds, and ends…but to Alex, still new to the ways of Nippon, there had never been a better, more peaceful end to a day for him.

* * *

><p>And so the days began to pass.<p>

Alex, beginning his new "job" as a blacksmith, found himself in Gizo's hut each morning, heating metal strips in the forge before pulling them out and holding them in place, as the blacksmith pounded away with his hammer and flattened them into the shapes that would eventually become swords of fine craftsmanship. As the work continued, and Alex found himself becoming more and more exposed to the heat of the forge and the rhythmic pounding of the hammer, the repetitive work helped to sharpen his focus and strengthen his body.

With little else to do other than work with Gizo and train with Oki, Alex soon found himself able to start doing a significant portion of the simpler work himself, his growing experience allowing him to start pulling out the heated metal and shape it on his own, as Gizo worked alongside him, giving him the occasional pointer as he set to repairing Alex's suit of armor and refitting it so as to better suit the young man. Not only that, but since the armor technically "belonged" to Alex now, Gizo saw fit to instruct the young man on how to properly don the armor, so that it would sit better on his shoulders next time he had to use it.

Between the two of them, strong swords and strong bonds were forged.

Each day, after Gizo let him go, Alex would immediately go to Susano's house and the training ground behind it, meeting Oki there and beginning their training for the day. Now that Alex had proven himself in a truly dangerous situation, Oki had _finally_ decided to back it off a bit, though he still continued to push Alex as far as his slowly increasing stamina held out.

Amaterasu, having taken a sudden interest in Oki's training "regime", could often be seen sitting on the sidelines, watching with Kushi and Susano as the two swordsmen traded hits, their sessions having turned into full-on duels with each other as Alex's skill in the sword continued to improve. Susano himself even pitched in occasionally, though Alex quickly realized that the Kamiki warrior was mostly using the time as an opportunity to show off how "skilled" he was. Usually, Susano would demonstrate his skill by hacking apart several of the training dummies he had, and while it was impressive to watch them shatter under the force of Susano's mighty blade, Alex vaguely suspected that Amaterasu was helping out somehow, the wolf's tail seeming to twitch with every blow the warrior landed.

His ki training was also progressing, Oki now moving on to the proper technique involved with wall jumping, which Alex had attempted and failed at miserably during his time in the ruins. Oki also began to cover what he called _ki running_, which Alex realized was the typical anime style spread-arm run, where the person would hold his arms out to either side as far as they could go while leaning forward and dashing around at incredible speeds.

One thing Alex also realized, though, was that balance with the technique was key, and he found himself tasting dirt more often than not.

Between the two of them, Alex's swordsmanship improved dramatically…and he wasn't the only one going to bed with bruises now.

After Oki was done with him, Alex usually either collapsed in bed, too tired to continue on with the day, or more often found himself continuing his discussions with Amaterasu. Eventually getting over her odd little quirks and mannerisms, Alex actually found her to be rather decent company, the wolf-goddess proving to be extremely wise to the ways of the world, despite her slight aloofness. After Alex had explained exactly what had happened to him up to this point in time, their discussions started turning towards how things exactly worked in his own world, San Francisco, or "San Fran," as Issun started calling it.

The poncle seemed to take particular interest in Alex's description of the "Bridge of Golden Gates"…right up to the point where Alex explained to him that it wasn't actually made of gold.

"Aw, shucks…" he had said, the greedy glow in his eyes fading away. "And just when I was thinking about treasure, too…"

As usual, Amaterasu seemed to simply take in everything that he said…though he certainly noticed the sudden interest that she took one day, while they were sitting by Konohana, when he mentioned the level of technology that his own world had, compared to Nippon.

When he questioned her about it, she simply shrugged and said, _"I suppose it's because I actually haven't had much experience with severely advanced technology…the only times I have seen something even close to the level of technology that you describe was in Waka's Tao Trooper Headquarters, and…"_

Noting her pause, he asked, "…and what?"

"…_you wouldn't understand."_

"Understand? Does this have something to do with that 'Ark of Yamato' I've heard about?"

"_You know about the ark?"_ she asked, clearly surprised.

"Sort of…Oki might've mentioned it once or twice."

"_I see…but I stand by what I say. You wouldn't understand, unless you have been through what I have."_

"Well, what _have_ you been through?" he asked. "I'm seeing hints everywhere that you've been around here before, like that pamphlet Oki has in his pack, the Spider Queen dropping your name like that, and other things! I know you're a goddess and all, but what exactly have you been doing that's getting everyone so worked up about you?"

She said nothing, and looked away from him as they continued to sit there, the only sound being the branches swaying in the breeze.

After a moment, she said, _"…perhaps, if you are willing to listen, then I can tell you."_

"Huh?" Issun piped up, from his sitting position between them. "You sure that's a good idea, Furball? I mean, I know he's sort of important to you, but are ya sure we can trust him with that kind of sensitive info?"

The wolf nodded her head. _"If Alex and I are to trust each other, then it would only be fair if he knew as much about my recent past as I know about his."_

Directing her attention back to Alex, she continued. _"However…it can be something of a very long story, so perhaps I shall tell it to you in pieces, if that is alright?"_

"Sure, I guess."

"_Then what would you like to know first?"_

A dozen or so questions began to fill his head, as he pondered over exactly _what_ he wanted to know about her. She seemed to be an alright kind of person (or wolf), but there was just so much about her that he didn't know, and _wanted_ to know.

As he thought about it, he eyes wandered onto the nearby empty shrine, where he remembered Sakuya telling him about the monument to Shiranui that had apparently disappeared about a year ago.

Deciding that it couldn't hurt, he asked, "Were you around when Shiranui's statue disappeared?"

"_Oh, that old thing?"_ she said, turning to look at the empty shrine. _"Yes, I suppose I was…considering that, technically, I AM that statue."_

"Wait…_what?"_

"_Perhaps Sakuya can explain it better than I can."_

Almost expecting the sound of the wind picking up now, Alex looked over and saw the pink kimono-wearing woman appear and walk over to them.

"It will be my pleasure, Mother Amaterasu," she said, a warm smile on her face as she sat down very close beside Alex, making the man suddenly feel _immensely _uncomfortable as he began to fidget nervously.

"As I said before…" she told Alex, "It was Shiranui and Nagi who first defeated Orochi and sealed his spirit away, using the power of Nagi's very own sword, Tsukuyomi, to keep the demon from breaking free."

Taking a deep breath, she continued…

_However, on the eve of the same day, one hundred years later, the dreaded Orochi made his return to the mortal plain, as Tsukuyomi was pulled from its place in the Moon Cave, releasing the demon's spirit._

_Slowly, his darkness began to spread, and Nippon again began to suffer under the weight of his corruption. Bit by bit, the land gave in to the demon, and I could only watch as my guardian saplings, which had kept Nippon free from the dark corruption since Orochi's first appearance, fell too. I was forced to withdraw my power from them, in order to protect what little remained of the purity of Nippon. _

_Eventually, I came to realize that nothing short of a divine intervention would save us…and I knew that the time had come once more for the Great Spirit of the Sun to be resurrected._

_As the darkness began to close in around Kamiki Village itself, I went to the shrine of Shiranui, and using the power of a mighty artifact that had been entrusted to me for safekeeping, I called upon the power that still lay dormant within the shrine itself…_

"And BOOM!" Issun yelled, ruining the moment. "Out popped Ammy!"

Sakuya said nothing, but Alex noticed that her pleasant smile had quickly turned into a bloodcurdling scowl, directed straight at the poncle, who immediately retreated into a hiding place in Ammy's fur.

"Yes…well…I believe Amaterasu can fill you in from there," she said after a moment, standing and leaving in what could only be described as an irritated huff.

"_Moving on…"_ Amaterasu began. _"The 'artifact' that Sakuya mentioned was my divine reflector that you see here, upon my back. It's power was what allowed the dormant spirit within the statue to resurrect itself, and as Issun so adequately put…"_ she said, looking at where the poncle was still hiding in her fur, _"I appeared at that time, coming straight from the statue itself."_

"Oh…so it, like, broke into a million pieces, huh?" he said, figuring it out. "But wait…if the shrine was for Shiranui when he died, then shouldn't _he_ have been the one to come out when Sakuya did her thing?"

"_I can see why you would think that, but it isn't that simple…"_ she explained. "_While the mortal shell that we Brush Gods take can determine our appearance and certain behaviors, it does not determine who we are at the very core of our beings…and when our mortal shell dies, the spirit, the very _essence_ of our being, will continue to live on, waiting to be reincarnated into an entirely new shell."_

Looking back to the shire, she continued. _"The 'Spirit of the Sun' that Sakuya mentioned is the spirit that links me and Shiranui together, as well as all of our past reincarnations. I am Shiranui, and Shiranui is me. We are one and the same."_

"Huh…" he mused, staring into the sky as he thought it all over. "…that's pretty deep."

"_Deeper than you know, Alex."_

Issun chose that time to poke his head out, asking, "Is she gone?", and making both Alex and Amaterasu chuckle.

Between the two of them, a sort of trust began to build…a friendship, if you will.

* * *

><p>That night, Alex found himself being invited over to Susano's house for dinner, something that had begun to happen with a regular consistency after he had brought back the man's child safe and sound. He never had a boring time there as well, for the man and his wife made <em>excellent <em>food, and Alex often learned important things about the village and its inhabitants from them during their after-dinner discussions.

Sometimes, their talks also shifted to topics concerning the demons, and the current state of affairs that the village was in, given Alex's recent "purging" of the Tsuta Ruins. Such was the topic of discussion that particular night.

"Mr. Orange has been talking, recently…" Susano said, between large mouthfuls of food.

"Talking about what?" Alex asked, being somewhat more polite since he _was_ their guest.

"Apparently, he's been thinking of chancing a caravan of supplies to Kusa Village, on the opposite end of Taka Pass," Kushi answered, pouring herself tea, some sake for Susano, and offering the jug to Alex, to which the man declined as politely as possible.

"Really? I'm guessing this isn't something that happens often?" Alex said.

"No, it isn't. Ever since the imps began raiding the village, and the demon scrolls began lurking about the plains outside the gate, the others have been too scared to go more than a short distance from the village," Susano said, grumbling something about a "bunch of cowards".

"Not only that…" Kushi said. "…but the forest had become far too dangerous to travel through. Mr. Orange has been constantly worrying about the safety of our closest neighbor, Kusa Village."

Alex nodded, understanding. During his time here in the relative safety of Kamiki, he had almost forgotten that there were likely others who were fighting for survival beyond the boundaries of the village…people who could use their help.

"Thanks to you and Poochie, though, the raids have stopped, and the forest seems to have cleared up," Susano remarked. "Mr. Orange believes that it is now safe enough to try and attempt a small caravan of supplies to help out Kusa Village, so long as we have enough people guarding the wagons against the demon scrolls and other wandering monstrosities."

"Are you going to go with them, then?" Alex asked, as he began to shovel some rice into his mouth with the chopsticks that he _still_ hadn't gotten the hang of.

"Of course!" Susano exclaimed, thumping his chest. "No task is too mighty for Susano…the Mighty!"

"Then you should finish your vegetables, _Susano the Mighty,_" Kushi quipped, pointing to a bowl overflowing with greens.

Grumbling again, Susano did as he was told, munching away and making a face that said in no uncertain terms how much he hated the taste.

Later that night, when Alex went home, he found Oki rearranging his things as usual, while Amaterasu and Issun reclined in a corner of the front room. Upon the wolf-goddess's arrival to the village, there had been some debate among the villagers as to where she would want to stay for the time being…a debate that had ended almost right away with Oki's (rather sudden) suggestion that she stay with him and Alex in their house.

Alex distinctly remembered the funny look he had given the Oina man that day, and his decision not to say anything about it.

After relaying the information he had learned from Susano and Kushi to them, he saw Oki already nodding, the Oina man saying, "You should go with them. They could use an extra sword, and there is no better training than actual combat with actual opponents."

"Yeah, I guess I could go…see some more of Nippon," Alex agreed. "What about you guys, though?"

"_Well, I suppose I could use the opportunity to check on Kusa Village, among other things,"_ Amaterasu stated from where she lay, flipping her tail nonchalantly.

"So you're going too, then?"

"_Wherever you go, so will I,"_ she stated.

"And…_so will I!"_ Oki suddenly piped up, tripping over his words a bit.

The urge was incredibly strong, but once again, Alex managed to resist facepalming right then and there.

"_Great…"_ he thought. _"Now I've got a stalker, and a guy who's got the google eyes FOR the stalker. This is going to a whole barrel of fun, I can just tell."_

* * *

><p>After a couple days of preparation, the village found itself gathering together numerous supplies, from foods, to clothing, to even medicine, as Ishi herself began loading up a cart with her wares.<p>

Noticing this as be loaded a bundle onto the cart he would be riding on, Alex asked her, "Ishi? You're coming with us?"

The healer nodded, depositing an armful of medicinal herb packs. "Of course! I am no stranger to the road, child, and there is _always_ the need for a healer wherever she may go!"

"Yeah, but…you're bringing a lot of medicine with you. You sure we're gonna need that much?"

"It never hurts to be prepared, child."

Across the path from her, Gizo was also busy packing, loading an entire rack's worth of long swords onto his own cart, along with a mixture of other weapons. Taking notice of Alex, the blacksmith waved him over, pulling out a hefty bundle as the man went to him, dodging other villagers who were scurrying about and getting ready.

"Good news, Alex!" he said with a hearty tone. "I just finished refitting your armor this morning. It should fit you much better now!" Taking the bundle of armor and handing to Alex, the blacksmith nodded in satisfaction at a job well done. "Wear it well, Alex. You've earned it."

"Thanks. I'll try to take better care of it in the future."

"See that you do."

(_Spice and Wolf OST – Hikaru Wadachi_)

Just then, the call went out that the caravan was about ready to leave, and nodding to each other, both men went back to their respective carts, Alex heaving the armor bundle into the cart he was riding in and hopping up on top to the rider's seat, where Susano sat. Amaterasu and Oki (in his wolf form) popped up in between them right then, from their spot in the back, the little green ball of light that was Issun hopping up and down excitedly on Ammy's head as they prepared to depart for Kusa Village.

Slowly, the caravan began to move, and the villagers who were staying in the village were lined along the main path, waving goodbye and throwing well-wishes their way, as the carts slowly filed out the front path and onto the road through Shinshu Fields.

Making their way over the rolling green hills of grass and rocky outcroppings, the caravan goers kept an eye out for any danger heading their way as progressed towards the pathway that would lead them beyond the plains and into the Agata Forest. Fortunately, luck was with them that day, for even with such a large and potentially vulnerable caravan of goods, no bandits or demon scrolls harassed them on their way.

The sun was bright, the wind was warm, and their path was straight and true. It was the perfect day for traveling.

Several hours later, they entered the pass that connected Shinshu Fields to Agata Forest, and the bright sun was diminished significantly as they entered into the tree line. However, this time through, Alex noticed that the air in the forest felt distinctly lighter, as if some heavy weight had been lifted from it and allowed the forest itself to begin breathing deep again. The insects were buzzing noisily, the frogs and fish were swimming around lazily, and Alex even noticed an older-looking boy and his pet dog playing on the side of one of the bigger pools of water.

Seeing the caravan going by, the boy began to wave to the villagers, several of them returning the gesture. His dog, wearing a red colored handkerchief around its neck, barked several times as if to greet them as well. But upon seeing Ammy poking her head out of the back of Susano's cart, the boy suddenly stopped waving and stared with an absolutely stunned look on his face, mouth hanging open as Ammy barked a return greeting to him and his dog, tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted happlily.

Coming back to his senses, the boy let out a cheer and jumped around happily, his dog bounding around beside him, the two of them seeming overjoyed at the sight of Amaterasu.

"Friends of yours?" Alex asked over his shoulder, watching as the pair receded into the distance.

"_Of sorts."_

"Hah!" Issun crowed. "Good ole' Kokari and Ume! Nice to see them still running around out here!"

"Isn't it kinda dangerous for them, though, In the middle of a forest like this?"

"Not since Spider Queen kicked the bucket, thanks to you, Tinhead!" Issun said. "You keep doing stuff like that, and you're gonna be famous someday!"

"Famous?"

"Like I just said, Tinhead!"

"Huh…"

The thought had never occurred to him, actually. He knew people in the village were talking about him rescuing Kuni and all…but he had never actually considered the possibility of _fame._ Having been focusing on other things in the past few days, it was almost an alien concept to him.

Regardless, he made it a point to try and not let it go to his head, as they made their way through the marshy forest. Despite that there seemed to be no more demons infesting the place, the going was still slow as the horses and carts had to be led through routes that were wide and safe enough for them to pass, without the risk of tipping into one of the various pools of water.

As such, by the time they came out on the other side of the forest, the sun was already drawing close to the horizon, the sky slowly shifting from blue to orange. Their progress was hardly deterred, however, the carts and horses continuing their plodding course along the smooth road. Several villagers, riding on single horses of their own, went ahead to scout the path out, in order to make sure that it was safe for the rest of the caravan.

As they rode along, Oki having run ahead to scout the path with the other villagers and Susano catching a quick nap in the back of the cart, Amaterasu noticed the Alex seemed to be distracted with something, the man looking at his sword, which was drawn and resting in his lap as he held the reins and led the horses.

"_Curious about your weapon, I see," _she remarked, keeping her thoughts silent from the loudly snoring Susano.

"Huh?" he said, coming out of his thoughts. "Oh…well…yeah, kinda. I was actually sort of thinking about that fight we had with the Spider Queen."

"_What about it?"_

"Well, mostly the names that she mentioned…yours, and the name of my sword… Aku-Hametsu, I think she said. Do you know anything about it?"

"_Unfortunately, no,"_ she answered. _"Your weapon…all I can tell you is that it is old. VERY old. A weapon made before my time on Nippon."_

"What about your 'reincarnations', or whatever?"

"_They cannot help. Memories do not transfer easily between each incarnation of the Spirit of the Sun, or ANY Brush God spirit for that matter. All that we retain is our awareness of our godliness, so that we may immediately set to work in our realm of expertise. Nothing else."_

"And what about when she said _your_ name? It sounded like you two have duked it out before."

"_That is true…we _have_ fought before, during my first time on the surface of Nippon. The Spider Queen was the first greater demon that I purged, as much as she was for you."_

He noticed her usually bright features suddenly turn dark, as she clearly became deep in thought.

"_However...something does not seem right to me. The second time I fought her, with you, things seemed almost TOO similar to the last time I faced her. The poison water, the imp infestation, even the final battle with her…it was as though things had…reset."_

"Reset? Is that bad?"

"_Only time will tell. I must see what the future holds before I can make any assumptions."_

Alex remained silent, pondering some of the things she had told him, as time continued to pass.

Several minutes later, they heard galloping footsteps, as one of the villagers on his horse came charging over the hill back towards them.

"_Demon scrolls!"_ he shouted, the moment he was within hearing distance. _"Many demon scrolls on the road ahead! The warrior of the wolf-folk has already begun to fight them!"_

"Looks like that's our cue, Ammy!" Issun said, drawing Denkomaru and holding on as Amaterasu leapt off the side of the wagon and whipped Susano's face with her tail in the process, leaving a streak of ink and waking the burly man up in a flash.

"Come on, Pops and Tinhead!" the poncle shouted as Ammy tore down the path ahead. "Shake a leg!"

Bringing the wagon to a halt, Alex leapt off and ran after her, followed closely by Susano. Going over the rise ahead, they caught up to Ammy, who was assessing the situation as she stared down three demon scrolls at once, all of them obstructing the path ahead.

As they watched, Wolf-Oki suddenly appeared out of thin air, his dark fur matted with demon blood as more of it dripped from his sword and muzzle. Giving the group a quick nod, he lunged for another of the demon scrolls, vanishing along with it as he went to purge the demons within.

"TO BATTLE!" Susano shouted, raising his sword as he charged headlong into the second one, leaving only one left for Ammy and Alex.

"You want this one?" the man asked.

"_How about we both fight it, so you can show me how well you handle yourself?"_

Alex stared at her for a second, then nodded, drawing his weapon as the wolf readied her reflector. Raising them high, both charged at the last scroll, the thing letting off its muffled roar as it did the same towards them.

In a flash of red, the demon barrier formed, and the fight was on.

A group of four imps appeared in front of them, two greens and two reds, and all of them brandished their weapons menacingly as Alex and Amaterasu settled into their fighting stances.

"One of each?" Alex asked, to which the wolf nodded. Leaping ahead and swinging her weapon wildly to split the groups up, she drove her imps over to one side of the arena and left Alex to his own devices as he faced down his own two imps.

"_Watch out for the shamisen!"_ she called out to him, as they launched into the fight. _"Not only will it land heavy blows, but they like to use them as shields too!"_

"Is that what that thing is?" he yelled back over the loud clashing of steel on wood and bamboo. "I thought it was some kind of guitar!"

"What's a 'guitar'?" Issun asked.

"TELL YOU LATER!" Alex shouted, dodging a heavy swing from the red imp and leaping back as it brought the shamisen up high and slammed it down into the space that he had occupied only a moment before. Cursing his lack of armor, as he didn't have enough time to put it on, Alex resorted to a more defensive strategy, focusing on blocking and parrying blows from the green and red imps rather than muscling through them like he had done in the ruins.

The red imp charged forward, shamisen raised above its head, and Alex waited until the last second to sidestep, remembering Oki's lesson about exploiting an enemy's open guard when they committed to a heavy strike. The shamisen hit the dirt with a loud _whumph_, and Alex immediately raised his own weapon for a counter.

With a shriek, the green imp suddenly leaped off the shoulders of the red one, jabbing its bo-staff towards Alex…whose reflexes save him at that moment.

Adjusting his aim, Alex stabbed forward with his own weapon, taking advantage of the sword's longer reach, and jammed it into the green imp, skewering it on the tip.

As expected, the blade began to glow again, and Alex knew he had the advantage as he kicked the green imp's corpse off his sword and readied himself for the red imp's next attack.

Then he noticed that the spider rune on the blade was also starting to glow.

"_Use my power!"_ the blade's presence suddenly spoke to him, making it known to the man that it was truly ready to fight now.

Deciding to do just that, Alex launched a sideways slash at the red imp, who now fought more defensively as it raised its shamisen in a block, the glowing sword deflecting off it and leaving a gouge in the wood.

Immediately launching another attack, diagonally from the down-up as he spun around, he was again foiled as the imp quickly adjusted to block that attack as well, clearly more experienced in battle than his green cousin.

"_Use an attack that can break an opponent's defense!"_ Amaterasu called out to him, as she quickly slashed a line of ink across the shamisen of her own red imp, the instrument suddenly shattering apart and causing the demon to let out a surprised shriek.

"_A defense breaking attack…do I even have one of those?" _Alex thought.

Suddenly, he recalled his fight with the Spider Queen, and the attack he had used to bring her down.

"_Use my power!"_ the sword's presence said again, as if it knew what he was about to do.

"_SHIN SUTORAIKI!"_ he shouted.

The blade's glow immediately changed into an aura of crackling energy, just like it had in the Tsuta Ruins, and bringing the blade down to his side, Alex charged towards the imp and swung.

Again, he got the feeling of flying through the air, as the world around him suddenly warped and stretched…and he found himself in his crouch again, sword held off to the side in a masterful post-strike pose.

Again, time seemed to slow, as he stood and looked back towards the imp, a glowing blue rune having appeared on its body, across its chest and stomach.

Again…time resumed its normal pace, and with a spray of black blood, the red imp and his shamisen suddenly split in half, the pieces collapsing to the ground, with the two halves of the imp's body twitching once before laying still.

Remarkably, though, Alex felt no exhaustion this time…and looking down at his sword, he noticed that the spider rune had lost its glow, thought the rest of the blade had not.

"_Wait…"_ he thought, watching as Amaterasu finished off the last of her own imps. _"If I nearly killed myself with the last time I used that attack, then why not this time?"_

"_Perhaps it has something to do with the 'power' that you gained from the Spider Queen's soul?"_ Amaterasu mused, as she padded back over to him.

"Maybe…" he said. "But I didn't really notice much of a difference when…wait…you heard that thought?"

"_Of course. You don't always have to speak out loud for me to hear you, you know."_

"Then…you can read minds too?"

"_Yes, but I don't do it all of the time. I usually let people have their privacy."_

"Well, how about you don't read my mind _period_?" he asked, or more, forcefully _demanded._

"_Oh…" _she said, taken aback slightly by his forcefulness. _"…very well, then…if that is what you wish."_

Putting a hand to his forehead and making an annoyed sound, he heaved a sigh and said, "…look…I didn't mean it to sound like that, it's just…there's some things I'd rather keep to myself, you know?"

"…_Of course,"_ she said nodding. _"I understand perfectly."_

At that moment, the barrier faded away, and the two of them found themselves back in Taka Pass, Susano and Oki waiting for them.

"You two alright?" the Kamiki Warrior asked, to which Alex and Amaterasu nodded.

Wolf-Oki trotted up, saying, "We should get the caravan moving again. Who knows how many more of those things are around…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Issun said. "Why were there so many of those things in one place, anyways?"

All eyes turned to look at him.

"_Wait…that's a good question,"_ Amaterasu said. _"Why _were_ there so many demons scrolls grouped together on the road like that?"_

"Maybe it's a party?" Alex deadpanned. No one laughed.

"Or, rather…" Oki began.

"_They were trying to keep us away from something,"_ Amaterasu finished.

"Huh? Keep us away from what?" Issun asked.

Alex looked back in the direction of where the demon scrolls had been…and slowly muttered, "Uh…guys?"

Everyone looked to him, and then to where he himself was looking.

A good ways ahead of them down the pass, there was a long natural staircase leading up one of the grassy hills through a smaller pass that wound out of sight…and above it, a massive plume of red and orange-tinted smoke stood out against the darkening sky of the setting sun.

"That's…that's where Kusa Village is!" Susano suddenly gasped, taking a step forward.

"Susano!" Oki suddenly barked. "Get the caravan up here as fast as possible, and tell them to grab buckets and water! We'll head to the village and see if we can help!"

The burly man nodded and ran off back to the villagers and their carts. Alex, Oki, and Amaterasu, in the meantime, turned tail and ran the other way, heading up the staircase as fast as they could towards the source of the column of smoke and embers.

Dashing through the pass, and around the bend, they all suddenly stopped, mouths hanging open as they took it all in.

There was no denying the sight that lay before them.

Kusa village was burning.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun duuunnnnnn! *shot*<strong>

**So, yeah! I've sorta been toying around with the idea of MAYBE doing a Christmas one-shot, but things look like they might be getting kinda busy in the next few days, what with the holiday itself approaching and all, so I make no promises.**

**Just in case, Merry Christmas, and I'll see you next time!**


	17. A New Foe

**Ok people, before you start chucking rocks at me for the later-than-usual update, lemme tell you one thing...Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, and Spore are all VERY time consuming games, ESPECIALLY if you've gotten them for Christmas. So yes, you could technically count this one as general laziness.**

**Alex: FUS RO DAH! *Blasts author away***

**Um...Alex? You wouldn't happen to be playing Skyrim, now, would you?**

**Alex: Me? Nooooo...**

**Anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter. I don't know why, but a lot of people seemed to really like that one for some reason, and the super in-depth reviews that some of you left were awesome! So pat yourselves on the back, cause...I'm out of cookies right now.**

***Dodges rock***

**Enjoythechapterkthxbye.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: A New Foe<strong>

The imps were having the time of their life, doing what they did best: causing mischief and, more importantly, mayhem. Lots of mayhem, at the worst possible time for the unfortunate citizens of Kusa Village.

A village that was in the process of burning to the ground, the wicked flames clawing their way into the night sky, mocking the light of the moon that had begun to appear over the horizon.

Several of the demons, struggling with a large wooden beam that they had found, heaved the massive object against one of the doors of a nearby house, adding to the barrier of wooden objects that was already there and ensuring that the people still inside were unable to escape. Their pleas and the pounding of their fists on the door fell on deaf ears as the imps cleaned off their hands and congratulated each other.

"That oughtta hold 'em!" one of them quipped. "I can't wait until we're allowed to start picking through this stuff!"

"You bet! Freshly seared human is my favorite! I can almost taste it now!" another answered rubbing his hands together greedily.

"Oh yeah? _Well_ _taste THIS!"_ a voice suddenly boomed out.

"Huh?" one of them said, before a fist suddenly connected with the side of his head, spinning him around and dropping him flat on his face.

"What the…! We're under atta-!" another managed to shout, the rest of his words dying in his throat as a flash of silvery-blue light caught his eye, Alex drawing his blade into an immediate unsheathing strike that buried the blade in the space between the imp's neck and shoulder.

The other demons reacted with angry noises, each drawing their weapons and brandishing them…a moment before they were assaulted by two furious balls of fur, one latching on to an imp's outstretched limb and pulling it to the ground while the other launched a string of glowing beads into the remaining demons, smacking one aside and whipping another senseless.

Alex pulled his blade free of his demon with a wet _shlurk_, and raising the glowing weapon, tore into the other demons, the imps proving to be easy prey as they were distracted by Ammy and Oki's fury.

Once the last demon had been silenced, the three of them (four, counting Issun) gathered close as they assessed the situation.

(_Final Fantasy 10 OST – Hurry!_)

"Ok, what's the plan? !" Alex shouted over the roar of the burning homes around them.

"_First and foremost, rescue the survivors before it's too late!"_ Amaterasu said, retracting her prayer beads to their position around her neck. Oki and Alex nodded in agreement, and the three of them immediately set off to different houses.

Bringing her tail up, Amaterasu closed her eyes and began an elegant, swirling dance of ink, Issun watching from atop her head as she began summoning powerful winds to begin blowing out some of the raging fires, the same way a person blew out a candle. Several lesser flames immediately died down under the powerful gale, opening up safe approaches to the burning homes for Alex and Oki.

Man and wolf stopped before a close-knit grouping of homes, hearing the frightened screams of the people trapped within.

"_Help! For the Brush Gods' sakes, HELP!"_

"_The door won't open! We're trapped in here!"_

Wishing he had his armor right now, so as to better shield himself from burning debris, Alex looked to Oki, the wolf giving him a nod as an odd gleam appeared in his eye.

"Stand back, Alex!" he said. "You're about to witness the _true_ power of an Oina warrior!"

It was then that Alex noticed that the wolf's form had suddenly been surrounded by a swirling aura of freezing cold wind, the man actually spotting flecks of ice and snow beginning to appear as frost coated Oki's dark blue and red fur.

Doing as Oki said, Alex took a _large_ step back, watching as the wolf took a deep breath, every muscle in his body tensing up as the aura swirled around him more vigorously. Exhaling violently, Oki suddenly spewed a massive cone of icy wind from his maw, the fronts of several of the burning homes becoming coated in a thick layer of frost and ice.

Snapping his powerful jaws shut in satisfaction, Oki nodded again to Alex before darting forward and head-butting the nearest door, smashing through it like it was glass and startling the people within.

Following Oki's lead, Alex instead chose to jab his sword into the next frozen door and shatter it that way, immediately sheathing the blade and helping the elderly couple inside, leading them away from their home as the rest of it continued to burn.

As they were doing this, Susano and the other Kamiki villagers arrived, the group immediately splitting up as they threw water on the fires and dampened them enough to begin pulling the other survivors from their burning homes. Oki and Amaterasu went to assist with particularly stubborn fires that continued to rage despite the Kamiki villagers' efforts, while Alex continued working his way down the current line of houses he was one.

"Help! In here!" he heard a man shout from inside one particular home. "We're trapped! The door is blocked off!"

"Don't worry! I'll clear it out!" Alex replied, immediately setting to grabbing parts of the wooden blockade that had been set in front of it and throwing it aside before struggling with the heavy beam, which refused to budge no matter how hard he pushed against it.

Suddenly, a loud _crash_ was heard from above, and Alex heard a woman inside let off a frightened shriek.

"Hurry! The roof is caving in!" the man shouted, and Alex thought he could hear several children crying.

"_I'll never get this open in time!"_ he thought frantically, throwing his hands up in disgust. _"I've gotta get them out somehow!"_

Getting an idea, Alex reached up and drew Aku-Hametsu from its sheath, the blade and the spider rune on it glowing in the faint, smoke-ridden moonlight as he positioned it over the remaining obstacle.

"Stand back! I'm going to break it down!" he shouted, counting to three before yelling _"SHIN SUTORAIKI!"_ and swinging with all his might.

The moment his sword made contact with the blockade, the beam and the door with it immediately blasted inward, opening a hole in the front wall of the house and scattering fiery embers everywhere as Alex shielded his face with his long kimono sleeve.

The man and his family, which included a wife and two children, came out from their hiding place off to the side and escaped the house as quickly as possible, Alex leading them to a safe distance right as the entire structure let out a groan and collapsed inward with a thunderous _CRASH!_

The lot of them dove to the ground, the parents shielding their children and Alex shielding them as burning embers and splinters of wood scattered around them.

Slowly looking up, Alex checked to make sure they weren't all dead before getting to his feet and helping the family up.

The man, suddenly appearing very anxious, grabbed Alex's shoulder and said, "Where is she? Is she safe? !"

"Huh? Who's safe?" Alex asked, yelling to be heard over the roar of the flames behind them.

"_Princess Fuse!"_ the man cried out, near-hysterical. "The Head Priestess of the Gale Shrine! The last I saw…the ones who attacked us…they were headed for her home at the top of the village!" he said, directing Alex's gaze to a long, curving walkway on the far side of the village that twisted around and led up the side of the steep hill that the village was built on.

"Please! You have to help her!" the man begged him. "Without her…there is no hope for this village's safety!"

Nodding, Alex said, "Get back to the others! I'll go find her!" Watching the group run off, Alex turned and went in the direction that the man had pointed him in, dashing past the burning husks of more houses that already had villagers assisting, as their group continued to press further and further into the village, helping as many as they could.

His wooden sandals kicking up dirt as he ran beyond the point that the Kamiki Villagers had reached, Alex dashed up the winding path and followed it around the bend as it doubled back on itself, leading higher and higher. Looking ahead as he ran, Alex could see the dirt path quickly shift into a large wooden walkway, complete with an awning that followed it all the way up even further around the hill.

Not surprisingly, this awning was also burning, lending a sort of foreboding feel to the path that he had yet to run.

However, his attention wasn't on the wooden path.

It was on the three figures standing in front of the wooden path, each turning to face him as he came up and stopped.

Looking at them, Alex realized that they were human…but that did little to comfort him when he noticed what they were wearing.

Each wore bamboo samurai armor that had been crafted in a more traditional style, dyed a blood-red color, with their helmets each sporting a pair of ebony-black horns and a full-cover faceplate that was shaped to look like the face of a human skull…

And the eye sockets of these faceplates were glowing red.

"Well, look what we have here…" one of them said, his low growl of a voice echoing from behind his faceplate. "Looks like the punching bags missed one."

The other two chuckled at the joke that was clearly made at the imps' expense, as all three of them reached to the sword sheaths on their belts and drew out blades made of a dark-colored, stone-like material that Alex couldn't identify.

"Hoping to rescue your beloved princess, Kusa Villager?" the center one sneered, going into a fighting stance with the others. "I would _love_ to see you try."

Alex slowly assumed his own fighting position, anxiously pondering his options as the group of three hostile samurai began to advance on him, their swords held at the ready.

Now _really_ wishing that he had his armor on right now, Alex nonetheless prepared himself for battle. These new foes were clearly more experienced in a fight than the imps, judging from the way they stiffly held their weapons and moved as a group.

At that moment, Alex would have admitted to himself that he was _definitely_ worried…if his sword hadn't suddenly began to pulse in his grip.

He looked at his weapon, as his opponents stopped and stared at him curiously.

He knew what was happening immediately. This was the exact same thing that had happened to him during his fight with Waka.

His heartbeat began to speed up, becoming stronger and louder as it drowned out the sound of the burning fires around him.

His breathing grew heavy as his body began to demand more oxygen.

His vision grew fuzzy as it began to blank out, being replaced by rapid flashes of unfamiliar images and voices.

"_Is it almost ready, Master Amunae?"_ a curious, anxious voice asked.

"_Almost, my pupil…quickly, bring me my hammer,"_ a tired sounding voice answered. A voice of wisdom.

"_Here it is, Master."_

_Clang!_

_Clang!_

_Clang!_

"_It…it is done…"_

The voice was weak, and yet, it was _elated._

"_Truly, Master?"_

"_Yes."_

"…_ha ha ha. Excellent."_

"_Wha…!"_

_SHINK!_

"_GAH!"_

There was the sound of a struggle. A body hitting the ground. Fleeing footsteps.

"_Amunae?"_ a female voice said, several seconds later. _"Is everything alright? I heard a commotion."_

The sound of a door opening. A gasp, followed by stunned silence.

"_No…Amunae, NO!"_

Hurried footsteps.

"_Amunae, what happened to you? ! Say something, PLEASE!"_

Silence…and then…

"_B…B-B…"_

"_Amunae?"_ The barest hint of hope in her voice.

"_B-B…Black…Hand."_

Silence…the sound of anguished sobbing.

"_Amunae! By the gods…please, no!"_

Everything vanished…was replaced by a seething, growing anger.

_Murderers…_

The fury grew, a pulsing, fiery entity that radiated from the sword and into Alex, drowning out all else.

_Deceivers…_

Everything…his thoughts, his memories…_everything_ vanished under a furious haze of fiery anger and hatred, filling his body and mind until it felt like he would burst.

_Traitors…ALL OF THEM!_

The powerful shout rang out into his consciousness…and everything Alex knew shattered as the sword took control once more.

"_GrrrrrrrAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_ the sword's presence shouted…_through Alex,_ as it gained control of his body.

Blue fire sprang to life along the blade, roiling around the blade's hilt and up Alex's arm…before spreading to the rest of his body, engulfing the man in an overpowering aura of flame. The loose fabric of his kimono billowed about, as if buffeted by the furious power of the flames now surrounding him, though the clothing appeared completely unharmed by them.

The three skull-faced samurai gaped at him, as the man they had so casually threatened gazed directly at them…orbs of blue fire having replaced his eyes.

"By the Eternal Darkness…" one of them muttered in awe. "It's true…the legends…"

Whatever else he was going to say was rudely cut off, when a sudden flash of movement from Alex silenced him.

The presence controlling Alex was fast…too fast for them to see, especially for the unfortunate samurai that was struck before he could even blink.

Before he could react, a massive split appeared in his chest plate, and blood sprayed out in a crimson fountain.

"GYAHHHH!" he screamed, falling flat on his back, dead before he even hit the ground.

The presence controlling Alex was powerful…too powerful for them to handle, especially for the samurai that raised his black, stone-like sword in a desperate vertical block.

Aku-Hametsu slammed into the blocking sword with such force that the samurai's sword shattered apart, the shards impaling him in numerous places along his side and face…such as directly in his left eye, the particularly large sliver piercing the metal faceplate with incredible force.

"AUUUGGGHHH!" he screamed, clutching at his bleeding eye as he collapsed on the ground, writhing about before lying still.

The presence controlling Alex was merciless…too merciless for the final, unfortunate samurai that tried to run and ended up tripping over himself in his panic, his sword flying out of reach.

Realizing his doom, he rolled onto his back and saw Alex slowly pacing towards him, his sword coated in crimson blood that seemed to fuel the fires roiling around it.

Panicking, the red samurai shielded his face…before the point of Aku-Hametsu found his throat, the tip of the sword impaling itself in his windpipe and splitting his Adam's apple in half.

Withdrawing the blade, the sword's presence slowly continued its forward march with Alex, the burning flames on the wooden walkway seeming to shy away from the blue flame aura that surrounded the man.

* * *

><p>Drawing a line of ink from a nearby water bucket, Amaterasu directed a stream of water to a lick of flame on one of the many burning houses still in Kusa Village. There seemed to be no end to the fires that were consuming the village, even though she and Oki worked tirelessly to put out as many as they could.<p>

Still, as focused as she was, she didn't miss seeing a burst of blue flame in the distance, rising into the sky and standing out in stark contrast to the red and orange fires that continued to burn.

"_Blue fire…?"_ she thought, before putting two-and-two together.

"_Oki!"_ she called out, running over to the blue wolf, some of his blue and red fur singed in several places. _"Where is Alex?"_

"Alex? I thought he was with you!" Wolf-Oki replied, flopping down on the ground and panting hard, his exhaustion apparent.

"_Well if he isn't here, then where is he? !"_

"Oh dear…I hope he succeeds!" she suddenly heard a voice behind her say.

Turning around, she saw a man surrounded by his family, sitting on the ground with the other survivors that the Kamiki villagers had rescued.

"Do you think he'll find Princess Fuse?" the wife asked her husband, as she cradled their children.

"I hope so…" he replied. "But those attackers…they were marching side-by-side with the demons! And their armor…I'll never forget the sight of those faceplates for the rest of my life! He'll have a real fight of it at least…but he seemed to know what he was doing. All we can do is pray for his success."

Amaterasu didn't need to hear anymore. Before anyone around her could react, she had already torn off through the village, towards the home of the Priestess of the Gale Shrine.

* * *

><p>(<em>Naruto Shippuuden OST – Hyakki<em>)

_Traitors! Traitors to all mortal kind!_

The thought repeated endlessly, over and over, as Sword-Possessed Alex stalked down the path, coming into sight of a particularly large and ornate building, built right up against the side of the mountain.

This building, too, was burning.

Moving forward into the courtyard in front of the building, his path was blocked by another of the red, skull-faced samurai, this one mounted on a horse and wielding a large trident-like spear, its three prongs glowing red as the metal caught the fire's reflection.

"So, you think you're so tough, killing a few foot soldiers?" he sneered, his horse pawing the ground anxiously as several more of the samurai formed up around him.

"You fool…you know _nothing_ of the power you challenge! Even if you get past us, Master Nobunaga will wipe the floor with your carcass!"

The presence said nothing, but resumed its forward stalk with Alex, sheathing the blade as it went.

"You still wish to challenge us?" the mounted samurai said. "Very well…I shall speed you to a quick death! _In the name of the Master!_"

"_In the name of the Master!" _the others around him shouted, drawing their swords.

The sword's consciousness pinged slightly in response to the shout. _It knew that phrase._

With those words, the samurai raised the trident-spear and kicked his horse into a charge, the other samurai following suit with their swords held down at their sides, nearly skimming the ground.

The presence controlling Alex was fearless…it did not shy away at the sight of a mounted samurai, charging straight for him, trident aimed straight for the man's heart.

Before any of his opponents could react, Sword-Possessed Alex stepped aside and, with strength unheard of, reached out and grabbed the haft of the spear in a blur of motion, bringing his opponent's momentum to a dead stop.

Before the red samurai even registered what had happened, the butt-end of his spear suddenly jammed into shoulder with enough force to shatter the bones in his arm, causing him to fly free of the saddle as his horse rode out from under him. Flung backwards as if clotheslined, the red samurai slammed into the ground, rolling in a messy, limb-flailing tumble before eventually stopping at Alex's feet.

Groaning, the samurai slowly looked up…and his own weapon was suddenly buried in his chest, piercing his armor, ribcage, and heart simultaneously.

Yanking the trident spear out, Sword-Possessed Alex brought it to bear against the other samurai, spinning the weapon dexterously in his hands as he went into his own charge.

The centermost of the samurai group was his first target, the opponent swinging his sword up over his head in a sprinting charge attack. Sword-Possessed Alex proved faster and far more lethal with his weapon's longer reach, however, the man jamming the end of the weapon into the samurai's gut, right in the un-plated section below the chest.

Tearing the weapon out and spinning it up and over his head, Sword-Possessed Alex met the next samurai in line, bringing the long weapon into a widely arcing slash, the point of the trident spear catching his opponent right across the throat and slicing it open in a gruesome spray of crimson.

Before the man's body had even hit the ground, Sword-Possessed Alex had brought the weapon up into a throwing position, aiming for the last samurai that was charging at him and launching the trident into a powerful throw that embedded it within in his unfortunate opponent's chest.

Clutching at it in pain, the samurai slowed and eventually stopped, falling to his knees before falling face-down in the dirt.

Redrawing Aku-Hametsu, the presence continued forward going up to the large, burning house and regarding it through Alex's eyes.

The flames here seemed…stronger. There was a kind of power within the building, one that gave the flames here additional strength. The entire building was engulfed, in a blazing inferno that not even the bravest or most foolhardy person would dare venture into.

Adjusting Alex's kimono, the presence led him up the steps, to the open door, and inside, the fire parting for him and his own aura of blue flame.

* * *

><p>Charging up the path as fast as her paws would carry her, Amaterasu almost sped right past the three bodies littering the ground in front of the wooden walkway that would carry her to Princess Fuse's home. Skidding to a stop, she went up to the nearest one and warily sniffed at it.<p>

The pungent scent that she picked up almost made her fall back in surprise.

They were human, that much was certain…but they smelled just like demons.

"Hey, Furball! Get a load of this!" Issun called out.

Going over to him, she saw him bouncing about what looked like some kind of katana…a katana carved out of some kind of black _stone._

One good look, and she immediately knew what it was.

"_Obsidian…"_ she breathed. "…_but who in their right mind would wield such cursed weapons?"_

"I dunno…but it looks like they didn't give Tinhead any trouble. Look at how this one broke! Splinters, all along this poor sap's left side! Tinhead must have landed one heck of a hit to do _that!"_

Issun suddenly stopped bouncing, and his bright green glow diminished a bit as he fell into thought.

"Doesn't make sense though…" he muttered. "These guys are _human_, but if what that one guy said was true, then…what the heck were they doing with _demons?"_

"_I don't know…but, judging from these sword marks on their bodies, Alex apparently found them to be hostile. We have to go and help him!"_

"Right! Let's get a move on then!"

* * *

><p>(<em>Gundam 00 OST – Alarm Bell<em>)

He stood in a long, wide hall, which comprised most of the building's inner chambers. What used to be a long rug running down the length of the hall from the door to the end was now just a streak of burned up cinders, lining the only clear path through the flames that continued to engulf the building around him.

Stepping forward, the presence within Alex looked impassively at the destruction that had been wrought within the home. What looked to be smaller rugs with matching parasols were only charred husks of what used to be, perhaps small sections set aside for guests…or pampered pets, perhaps.

However, his gaze did not linger on the sides of the hall for long. His gaze was one the scene at the very end of it.

Several figures stood there, their forms slowly coming into focus through the wavering heat.

One was a tall woman, garbed in what used to be the finest robes, now tattered and burned along the edges with her hair an absolute mess.

Another was a large dog, almost as big as she was, covered in cuts and bruises, and appearing to be favoring its front right leg as it stood between the woman and the third figure.

There were several other dogs around them that bore similar wounds, some struggling to stand, and others simply lying still. Whether they were unconscious or dead, the sword's presence did not know.

And lastly, the third figure.

Practically towering above the two being in front of it, the third figure was an absolute giant of a human, standing at least seven feet tall with a powerful build to match. From what the presence could see, the figure was wearing a large, horned, black samurai helmet, with a color-matched cloak tied around the neck beneath it, obscuring the rest of the figure's apparel.

However, the presence gazing through Alex's eyes at that moment could clearly see the powerful, black-clad armored gauntlet that the figure was wearing…and the massive sword clutched in it.

Without saying a word, the armored figure raised the weapon up high, preparing to strike at the dog that stood before it.

In a flash, the animal struck.

The figure did not cry out in pain, however. It merely looked down curiously at the canine, latched onto its sword arm at the wrist, an angry growl escaping through its powerful jaws.

"Pathetic," the figure said in a deep, growling voice…almost too deep to be human.

Raising the arm up, and the dog with it, he drew back his free arm and immediately lashed out with a vicious punch, his armored fist connecting with the canine's ribcage and causing a loud _'CRACK!'_ to reverberate through the building.

A pained yelp escaped the dog, its grip weakening, and the armored figure simply brought his sword arm around in front of him, whipping it out to the side with enough force to throw the dog off and cause it to tumble across the ground, coming to a stop next to its companions.

"TEI!" the woman screamed. No response came from the dog.

Reaching out, the powerful figure latched his free hand around the woman's throat, any forthcoming cries coming out as half-strangled chokes as she was lifted off her feet and into the air.

"I will not ask you again, _priestess…_" the figure snarled. _"Where. Is. He?"_

"Let her go!" the sword's presence commanded through Alex.

The figure stiffened at the sound of the words.

"Hmm? Who dares…" he muttered, looking slightly over his shoulder.

"_Let…her…go_," the sword's presence commanded again.

With a quiet _fwump_, the figure dropped her.

"Such a voice…" the figure mused. "Could it possibly…"

Slowly, ever so slowly, the figure turned, and the presence controlling Alex got its first good look at the being that was responsible for the destruction of Kusa Village.

The figure was fully clad in a heavy set of blackened samurai armor, fully made of metal like Alex's...but the similarities ended there. The overlapping plates along the shoulders, chest, gauntlets, and protective "skirt" piece appeared to have be crafted from solid steel plates that seemed to be _riveted _together, giving the armor a much more solid and protective look with barely any sort of buckles, straps, or leathery underlay to be seen. The armor was held together so tightly that it almost appeared as a solid piece, with the exception of the overlapping sections that allowed for flexibility.

Atop the samurai's head rested a massive helm adorned with two ebony black horns that rose almost straight up, angling off at the midpoint to give them a semi-twisted appearance. His face was completely hidden by a faceplate crafted of the same metal as his armor, the visage imprinted upon it being that of an almost demon-like face that was twisted into a devilish grin, revealing pointed fangs. Through the small slits that served as the eyeholes, only a pair of glowing red lights could be seen.

And lastly, clutched tightly in his gauntleted hand, was a massive sword…a two-hander from the looks of it, although the figure seemed to easily heft it in only one. The blade's cross guard was crafted so as to appear like it was growing right out of a large chunk of the same black stone-like material that the other red samurai had been wielding, the rock appearing to have spread partway up the dull back edge of the sword. The metal blade itself, however, looked to have been made into some kind of straight-edged katana. Lacking the characteristic curve and possessing a slightly wider blade, it more closely resembled an elongated machete than anything else, though that hardly detracted from how utterly _deadly_ the massive sword looked.

"So…we meet at last, Sword-Wielder," he said in a deathly low growl, stepping forward towards Alex, his heavy footsteps thudding into the ground and causing the already stressed wood flooring to creak loudly.

The presence controlling Alex brought the man into a fighting position, the flame-wreathed sword held parallel to his head as he pointed the tip towards the evil samurai.

"Or should I say…_Aku-Hametsu?"_ he continued, stopping several paces away from Alex, massive sword held causally at his side as if Alex posed no threat to him.

"You should take greater care when uttering that name…_traitor!"_ the sword's presence spat at him through Alex.

"Traitor?" the evil samurai said, chuckling slightly in obvious amusement. "Yes, I suppose in another time and place, I would be called that…but nowadays, I prefer to go by the name of _Nobunaga."_

"Nobunaga…" the sword uttered. "So you _are_ the one who ordered the attack on this village."

"Are you surprised by that fact?"

"No," the sword's presence stated flatly. "It will save me the trouble of hunting down the one responsible for this…atrocity!"

"I would hardly call the fair conquering of this land an '_atrocity'_," the one called Nobunaga said.

"LIAR!" the sword roared at him, its anger instantly becoming apparent. "This is not a fair conquering! This is the slaughter of INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

The flames around Alex's body immediately roared up, growing stronger with the sword's rage.

"So, the stories of my ancestors were true, then," Nobunaga stated, appearing to watch with interest. "Aku-Hametsu…The Blade of Demon's Bane…it truly _does _possess a power beyond the simple moonsteel it was crafted from."

Nobunaga began to pace around the man, the presence moving Alex so as to match the evil samurai's movements, never letting its guard down as the two began to circle each other with the priestess watching in the background…fear and confusion in her eyes.

"I know you, Aku-Hametsu…" he said confidently as he walked. "…and I am most certain that you at least know of _my_ heritage…the legacy that came before me."

"I know of it, Nobunaga…I alone seem to remember your clan of traitors."

"Yes…a shame really. Oh, the power we used to hold…the grip that my ancestors held over this land…the absolute _fear _that they inspired! Glorious!"

Nobunaga stopped suddenly, looking down slightly as he continued, the red light of his eyes seeming to dim slightly.

"Were it not for the clan you represented, our power would have become limitless during that time…but alas, it was not to be. In the end…the Takeda proved stronger, and we were forced into hiding."

Looking back up, the light in his eyes flared back up…and narrowed in pure contempt.

"Well, today, my people no longer hide in the dark. We have persevered where you have not, and with the Takeda clan gone, nothing will stand in our way now!"

Nobunaga raised his massive sword into a vertical fighting position by his head, the sword letting off a low, sinister ring as it began to glow red, the power wafting off of it like crimson flames.

"Including you."

Dashing forward with a speed that seemed beyond such a heavily armored man, Nobunaga swung his massive weapon down at Alex, his sword trailing flames as it sliced through the air.

Barely sidestepping with Alex in time, the sword's presence immediately lashed out with a strike of its own as Nobunaga's buried itself into the wooden floor below them, smashing through the wood and sending splinters cascading through the air around them.

Nobunaga proved faster than he looked, however, the heavily armored black samurai immediately hefting his sword back up into a diagonal block just quickly enough to deflect Aku-Hametsu, blue and red fire mixing with metallic sparks as the two swords clashed.

Spinning around and launching a horizontal slash, Nobunaga drove Sword-Possessed Alex back, attacking again and again in a vicious combo attack, his incredible strength and speed driving the other man back along the open path through the fire.

Ducking, dodging, and barely deflecting every swing that was thrown at Alex, the sword's presence remained undeterred by the overpowering skill of its opponent, watching calmly through Alex's glowing blue eyes as it waited for an opening.

It never saw one. Nobunaga's defenses were as tight as his attacks were strong. Even the blue fire radiating from Aku-Hametsu seemed not to affect him, simply washing over and off of his thick, nigh-impenetrable armor.

This fact was only proven when, driven back to the entrance of the building, the sword attempted one last swing, and managed to score a glancing blow across Nobunaga's chest plate.

Sparks flew from where the sword impacted…but all that remained was a minor scratch on the metal.

"Hmph," Nobunaga snorted derisively, before lashing out with a powerful straight kick that struck Alex directly in the chest, launching him through the door and _out_ of the building.

The sword immediately brought Alex's body around, having the man roll with the momentum as soon as he touched down. Coming back up in a half-crouch among the bodies of the red samurai it had slain minutes ago, the sword's presence appeared oblivious to the pain of the hit, Alex's body not even flinching despite what could have been a cracked rib or two.

Standing in the doorway, his armor wreathed in flames from the burning building around him, Nobunaga stepped out into the courtyard while never taking his eyes of Alex.

"You cannot beat me, Aku-Hametsu," he said. "I already possess a power unmatched, while you have only _begun _to reacquire the power you once held!"

Stopping before Alex, just out of striking range, Nobunaga threw his head back and laughed a purely _evil_ laugh.

"Face it, spirit…this land now belongs to _us!_ You cannot stop the _Black Hand!"_

Sword-Possessed Alex bowed his head…but not in defeat.

"_Alex…"_ the sword's presence whispered inwardly. _"…forgive me for what I am about to do…but it MUST be done!"_

The fires around Alex's body began to intensify, growing in strength so quickly that Nobunaga suddenly found his victorious feeling cut short, the black samurai having to step back as the heat radiating from the man's aura became almost _unbearably _hot.

"What in the name of Yami…?" he whispered to himself, watching as the man's body vanished within the tremendously powerful aura that Aku-Hametsu was generating.

Grunting slightly as he shielded his eyes with his armored hand, Nobunaga could hear something, just beneath the roar of the flames both behind and in front of him.

A loud, strained, drawn-out shout of pain, and the sound of bones…breaking? Reforming?

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Enjou_)

"It cannot be…" he whispered, lowering his hand as the flames receded slightly. "Not this early. It isn't possible! My ancestors' diaries never spoke of it happening _this soon!"_

What he beheld, encased in a swirling bonfire, was only a darkened, wavering silhouette where the Sword-Wielder had stood moments ago. He couldn't make out what it was, but he didn't have to. He already knew.

What stood in the Sword-Wielder's place now could only be described as some kind of bipedal creature…something that wasn't even _human._

"_Do you believe your power to truly be so great? !"_ the thing hissed at him, in a sinister sounding double-voice comprised of the Sword-Wielder's and…something else. Something incredibly powerful.

"_I have survived your clan, traitor…even beyond death! And now, you will be the next to join your ancestors in oblivion! SO SAYS THE LAST REMNENT OF THE TAKEDA!"_ the thing roared, bringing about Aku-Hametsu in its clawed hand.

"Incredible…" Nobunaga breathed in awe, though he did not back down. "…It is more powerful than I could ever imagine…the true spirit of Aku-Hametsu!"

"_Now DIE!" _it shouted, blasting forward with such force that it was all Nobunaga could do to block the thing's attack, his sword arm shaking dangerously under the tremendous force of the hit, his boots skidding in the dirt was he fought to hold his ground.

"_GGGRRRRRGGGHH!"_ he shouted from the effort, as searing hot fire washed over his armor. Pushing back against the force with all his strength, he managed to lock their two blades between them equally, putting him and the being he was up against on even ground.

"It won't happen…this soon…_spirit!"_ he grunted out. "I…WILL…SURVIVE YOU!"

Shoving his opponent off of him as hard as he could, Nobunaga brought his hand up, black energy crackling around it, and immediately planted it into the ground before him.

Before the silhouette of the thing he was fighting could react, Nobunaga disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"_COWARD!"_ it screamed as loud as it could, its voice echoing off the mountains themselves. _"COME BACK AND FIGHT ME!"_

"_Another time perhaps…" _Nobunaga's disembodied voice spoke up. _"For now…enjoy my little parting gift…an assurance that we will fight again someday."_

Looking back to the spot where Nobunaga had disappeared, the thing noticed a small wisp of black smoke suddenly flare up in the empty spot…leaving something behind as it dissipated.

It appeared as some kind of hollow glass orb…containing a glowing red symbol.

A symbol of a crimson helmet.

Before the thing could react, the surface of the glass sphere began to crack open, the object shaking as the power within it built to incredible force…right before it exploded in a massive burst of fire, immediately charring the ground and several of the nearby bodies of the red samurai.

There, standing in the center of a smoking, blackened section of ground, was a massive quadruped-like creature, towering above the silhouette and standing on four hooves with the addition of two arms. Armored to the teeth in some kind of demonic mockery of samurai armor, with a massive, crimson helmet atop its darkened, dragon-like head, it carried a giant glaive in each of its hands, which it banged together as it pawed the ground and snorted angrily.

"No…it can't be!" a weak voice said from behind the monstrosity.

Looking around it, the thing that had taken Alex's place saw the woman that had been at Nobunaga's mercy, now standing in the doorway and weakly slumped against the frame.

"Crim…" she began, coughing from the smoke of her burning home. "_C-Crimson Helm!"_

* * *

><p><strong>And another chapter done! Again, sorry for the long wait, but...must...get...smithing skill...to 100!<strong>

**Alex: SIGH. Please rate, review, and...I'll see what I can do about getting him away from Skyrim for more than a few minutes.**

**Quick Note: I decided to do some searching around, primarily on DeviantArt, and found some great pictures for my OC's! If you want, check out the DeviantArt picture links on my profile page, cause I've got a couple up for Alex and Nobunaga right now! At least, I _will,_ if my profile page will stop being difficult -.-**


	18. Shadows and Fire

**I seem to like ending a lot of my action-y chapters with cliffhangers, don't I? Ah well, as long as I keep putting chapters out, right?**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: Shadows and Fire<strong>

(_Bleach OST – Chokkaku_)

With a deafening roar that sounded like a mix between a dragon and an angry bull, the abomination known as Crimson Helm raised its weapons and charged straight for the fire-encased silhouette that had taken Alex's place, its hooves thundering along the ground as the massive centaur-like demon bore down on it.

At the last moment, the silhouette dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive beast and smoothly pulling into a roll as its shoulder hit the ground, coming back up onto its feet with Aku-Hametsu held at the ready, its position directly in front of a very startled Princess Fuse.

To the woman, the silhouette's body proportions were undefined, given the swirling blue bonfire around it…but there was no denying the speed and dexterity that the thing had.

Bringing Aku-Hametsu to bear in its claw-like hand, the silhouette brought its left arm up and around its face, as if to shield it, and darted forward with swift, inhuman speed, the sword held straight out to its right side as it charged straight forward to meet Crimson Helm's attack.

Demonic abomination and fiery silhouette met in the center of the clearing, duel glaives crashing down upon the single katana with an incredibly loud '_WHANG!'_, followed by the sound of metal grinding against metal as the two struggled for dominance in the clash.

Crimson Helm roared in the thing's face, and the silhouette snarled back in its sinister double-voice, sounding strained from the exertion of holding back the two heavy glaives. Pressing forward against each other's momentum, the clash grew tighter, drawing inward until it seemed that the two entities couldn't possibly get any closer to each other's face.

Right as it reached this point, the silhouette suddenly disengaged, leaping back and pulling away Aku-Hametsu, leaving Crimson Helm's glaives to suddenly pitch forward and sink into the dirt, leaving the abomination open to attack. Taking the opportunity, the silhouette dexterously leapt forward and struck with Aku-Hametsu in both hands, slicing through the armor protecting Crimson Helm's right arm.

The flame-wreathed sword bit through the armor easily, proving that it was nowhere near the strength of Nobunaga's…but regardless, the abomination seemed not to notice.

In fact, it didn't even _flinch_.

Releasing its right glaive and leaving it buried in the ground, the abomination lashed out with its now-free hand and grabbed the silhouette before it could react, lifting it into the air in front of its face and snorting in what seemed like amusement as the shadowy figure began struggling to get free.

The abomination began squeezing with enough force to crush bones, and the silhouette let out an inhuman, animalistic _scream_ in its agony.

Gasping for air, the silhouette suddenly managed to choke out, _"Ki…KI KASAI!"_

Raising Aku-Hametsu and jamming the vicious sword right into the eye of Crimson Helm, the silhouette's weapon let off a fiery blast as it impacted with a loud metallic _BANG_, the sword ringing from the force of its own attack even as the abomination's head snapped back, now sporting a nasty looking scorch mark over the eyehole of what the silhouette realized was only part of its _helmet_.

Stunned and furiously angry, Crimson Helm drew its arm back and threw the silhouette into the ground with cringe-inducing force, dirt flying into the air as the shadowy figure deflected off the ground and rolled to a stop in front of Princess Fuse's home.

But it never relinquished its grip on Aku-Hametsu.

Gasping in ragged, double-voiced breaths, the silhouette placed its clawed hands on the ground beside it, shakily pushing itself up onto its hands and knees. Crimson Helm, however, recovered far more quickly, snorting angrily as it stomped up to its two weapons and tore them from ground with a spray of dirt.

Princess Fuse let off a horrified gasp, fully believing that her death, and the death of this man-turned-monster who had tried to save her, was now at hand.

* * *

><p>At that exact moment, Amaterasu and Issun arrived at the scene, stopping dead as they laid eyes on the spectacle before them.<p>

"What in the holy heck…? !" Issun blurted out, too fixated on the scene in front of him to resume his bouncing.

"_Crimson Helm…"_ Ammy thought to herself, equally stunned by the sight, before her gaze turned to the thing that the abomination was fighting. _"And…what is THAT?"_

She quickly sniffed the air, but only drew confusion from the results. Her canine nose told her that it was Alex…his scent permeated the place, beneath the smell of ashes and smoke and fresh blood…but at the same time, her eyes told her that it _wasn't_ Alex.

Whatever this thing was, this thing that was practically _glowing_ with the same blue fire as Alex's ki, it was taller, wider, and commanded a far more imposing presence than she had ever seen from Alex in the short time that she had known him.

Aside from that, she wasn't sure if Alex was even _human_ anymore… due to the wavering flames that surrounded it, she couldn't pick out any obvious features that would tell her what the silhouette was representing, aside from the fact that it still had a relatively human-like body structure, standing on two legs with two arms.

"_It couldn't be…Alex?"_ she thought to herself in confusion.

"Dang!" Issun cursed. "Looks like you were right, Ammy! Crimson Something-Or-Other _did_ come back! Question is, _what in the world is it fighting? !"_

She didn't know, and she didn't have time to ponder it, as she suddenly realized what kind of situation the silhouette was in, the shadowy figure struggling to stand even as Crimson Helm was bearing down on it.

Darting forward as fast as she could, she bolted straight for the remaining space between Crimson Helm and whatever Alex had become, leaping into the air and pulling into a graceful gyration that caused her to land facing the opposite direction she had been charging, leaving her staring Crimson Helm dead in the eye with her back to "Alex".

"Am…Amaterasu? !" Princess Fuse suddenly gasped in surprise and desperate hope from her place at the front door of her still burning home.

"_Back, abomination!"_ the wolf mentally telegraphed to the monster that loomed above them all, as her reflector flared to life upon her back. _"You have no place in this world anymore! Return to where you came from, NOW!"_

Looking down at the white wolf, something that could only be described as recognition suddenly flared up in the glowing red eyes of Crimson Helm. Raising its glaives into the air above it and banging them together in a shower of sparks, the abomination let off a bellowing roar that was loud enough to force Princess Fuse and Issun to cover their ears.

Yes…the abomination _definitely_ recognized her.

Leaping forward, her lips drawn back into a feral snarl, Amaterasu launched herself directly at Crimson Helm, the demon striking out with one of its glaives to meet her charge. At the last second, she slowed and used her nimble paws to redirect her momentum at an angle, which allowed her to continue forward right up to the demon even as the massive sword swung past her with only inches between them.

Lashing out with a savage growl and a swing of her reflector, Amaterasu struck a direct hit against Crimson Helm's armor, the metal plate letting off a satisfying _bong_ as it connected right on the weakest point. The demon's entire suit rattled unsettlingly from the force of the hit, confirming that the same strategy from her first fight with the abomination was still in effect.

But as things would have it, Crimson Helm was apparently aware of this as well. Shifting to a defensive stance by using its large, wide glaives as impromptu shields, the demon immediately compensated for the weak point, just barely deflecting a follow-up strike from Amaterasu's reflector. Rearing up on its hind legs with an angry snarl, Crimson Helm kicked out with its forelegs, forcing the wolf back to keep herself from being brained by a hoof.

That left her with less room between her and a still-struggling "Alex", the silhouette clutching at its side as its gaze went over to the fight going on between the two.

Its glowing blue eyes, the only thing truly noticeable about its anatomy, met hers for a brief moment…and she saw something in them.

Recognition? Surprise, maybe?

Was Alex still there, inside this thing that had taken over his body?

She didn't know the answer, and never had the chance to find out. Taking advantage of her brief distraction, Crimson Helm struck again, the white wolf catching the movement out of the corner of her eye and moving to dodge the lethal weapon.

She was just a fraction of second too slow, and the blade struck her _hard._

Fortunately…her godhood saved her at that moment.

Sheer divine power flared up around her at the exact moment the blade strike landed, forcefully and violently slapping aside the demon's attack just enough to cause it to hit the ground next to her. Still, the attack had plenty of force to it, and Amaterasu was thrown aside as the minor shockwave hit her, causing her to roll clumsily in the dirt as she landed. A bit messy perhaps, but otherwise harmless as she shook her head to clear away the minor disorientation.

The silhouette that was Alex didn't see it that way. In its eyes, she could see…worry? Concern?

Turning its gaze back to Crimson Helm, the silhouette's eyes narrowed, the thing letting off a sinister double-voiced growl as it found new strength in its limbs. Hoisting itself up into a kneeling position, it took a deep, hissing breath…and spoke:

"_More power…must…focus."_

Amaterasu suddenly felt the all-too familiar sensation of building power, emanating from the silhouette.

"_Must…stop this…NOW!"_

The aura around the silhouette began to diminish in size, pulling in closer to the shadow within. But even so, Amaterasu still felt its power continuing to build, even as the flame aura continued to weaken.

She suddenly realized what was happening with a start.

The flames weren't weakening - they were getting _stronger_…becoming more concentrated, as they formed up tightly around the being's body.

"_GGGgggggrrrrrrrrggghhhhhh!" _the silhouette suddenly snarled out, its stance pitching forward onto all fours, a loud hissing reaching the ears of every being nearby.

Pushing herself back onto her feet, Amaterasu watched as tiny flecks of the silhouette's "body" began to peel off and float into the air, as though they were ashes suspended by the still-intense blaze that surrounded them. As they climbed higher, they began to suddenly incinerate into nothingness, consumed by the fire even as more rose up and met the same fate.

In a matter of seconds, an entire cloud of shadowy flecks were floating off the thing's body…a body that Amaterasu realized was changing dramatically.

With what she realized was the "excess" in the process of burning off, she began to see the lines and edges of the silhouette's "body" starting to become more defined, in a process that was only helped along by the sudden retraction of the fire aura that had surrounded it, which reduced the wavering effect from the intense heat.

Looking at the still somewhat vague outline of "Alex" now, Amaterasu could see hands…no, hand-_paws_ tipped with large, razor sharp claws.

The shape-defining lines of sinewy, powerful muscle that rippled along its entire body.

Legs that had become double-jointed like an animal's, with what appeared to be foot-paws to match.

A triangular shaped head, complete with large, animalistic ears and a skinny, angular muzzle.

And…a tail?

_Multiple_ tails?

"_What in the world…?"_ she thought, at a complete loss, Issun's jaw dropping as he watched in stunned silence.

Whatever Alex had become, it was getting stronger.

The process still wasn't complete yet, however. More hissing reached their ears, and they saw smoke beginning to rise from the "skin" of the silhouette's face, clearly defined lines etching themselves into the facial flesh of this thing that Alex had become, as a completely feral, semi-pained snarl escaped through its jaws, parting slightly to reveal rows of sharp, dangerous teeth.

It didn't take her very long to realize that these lines were forming into a sort of tribalistic design…like some kind of war paint. Glowing a stark, bright blue against the remaining black texture of the silhouette's still-obscured body, the lines went from the tip of its muzzle, to around its eyes, and eventually to a sort of odd circular design on its forehead…not unlike Amaterasu's own divine markings.

"By the gods…" Amaterasu heard Princess Fuse breathe.

"_Alex…?"_ the wolf gingerly cast her thoughts to the silhouette, hoping, _praying_ that the man was still there, somewhere inside this vicious, animal-human hybrid _THING_ that had taken his place.

It seemed not to hear her. Pressing harder with her mind, intent on reaching the human's consciousness, she suddenly found herself blocked by a solid wall comprised of fire and sheer fury.

It was almost enough to make her gasp. She had only _rarely_ ever seen such raw, untamed power in one place.

(_Bleach OST – Power to Strive_)

Still on all fours, with Aku-Hametsu still clenched in its vice-grip, the thing snarled out loud at a seemingly perplexed Crimson Helm, the demon apparently as confused as everyone else was. Its multiple tails, each one stretching out a good distance behind it, began to thrash about violently in random patterns, betraying the barely-contained anger within, as the clawed hand-paws dug furrows into the dirt in front of it.

"_You…would dare to harm…the one who brings light to this world? !"_ the newly defined silhouette yelled in its deep voice, shifting its stance low to the ground, the claws on its foot-paws scraping more lines into the dirt as they shifted back. _"Find your peace in the embrace of pure flame, beast!"_

Crimson Helm seemed to return to its senses then, bringing its weapons up as it prepared to face its newly changed opponent.

"_ALEX!"_ Amaterasu yelled, in one last attempt to get through to the man.

The silhouette ignored her, instead screeching out _"KI KASAI!"_

The fires around Aku-Hametsu suddenly intensified, growing brighter, and Amaterasu just barely noticed that the spider rune on the sword's side was still glowing, regardless of the fact that the silhouette had apparently just used one of the sword's still-hidden powers.

Tensing the muscles in its body, the silhouette-hybrid shot towards the abomination with a loud _whoosh_ of air, appearing as a blur from its inhuman speed. Shifting its stance in midair, it landed in a half crouch on its two legs (apparently as comfortable on two legs as it was on all fours) and immediately swung its own weapon in a counterattack against Crimson Helm's incoming strike from its left glaive.

The two weapons clashed for the briefest moment, before a loud metallic _BANG_ shot through the courtyard, Aku-Hametsu releasing its explosive power and blasting away Crimson Helm's left sword.

Spinning around on one foot-paw, its other leg sweeping across the ground around it as its tails streamed behind it in a singular fluid motion, the silhouette-hybrid stabbed forward with Aku-Hametsu and immediately sunk the blade into the right arm of the abomination, the sword impaling it all the way to the hilt, breaking out the other side, and stopping the incoming strike dead…the arm held back by the sheer strength the silhouette-hybrid possessed.

Again, the abomination seemed not to notice, regardless of the fact that its attack had been flat-out stopped.

Faster than Crimson Helm could react, the silhouette-hybrid immediately sidestepped out from under the blade, yanking the Aku-Hametsu out with it and using the momentum to launch into another graceful spin on its right foot-paw, taking the blade in both hands as it turned and hacking at the left front leg of the abomination.

Crimson Helm's leg suddenly gave out from beneath it, the demonic abomination letting off an odd, surprised-sounding roar as the front half of its body plowed into the ground…bringing its helmeted face within reach.

Continuing its spin and stopping with its back turned to the abomination, the silhouette-hybrid dexterously flipped Aku-Hametsu around in the air in front of it, catching the blade in its left hand-paw in a _reverse grip_ and stabbing backwards with the weapon…hitting Crimson Helm dead in the eye socket of its helmet with perfect accuracy.

A loud _CRACK_ rang though the courtyard, and Crimson Helm's entire body jolted from the force of the hit.

But _again_, it seemed not to notice.

The demonic abomination, seizing the chance, immediately pushed forward off its rear legs, causing its helmeted head to plow into the silhouette-hybrid's back and send it sprawling to the ground, Aku-Hametsu getting yanked out of the eye socket and going right along with it.

Raising its glaive, Crimson Helm took aim at the prone body of "Alex", swung down with all of its might…

And hit another sword.

A sword held by Oki.

(_Bleach OST – Tables Have Turned_)

"_Oki!"_ Amaterasu cried out in surprise, standing up and taking a step forward in concern.

"Stay…back…Amaterasu!" he growled out, unable to do much more with his wide-set stance and both hands holding up his broadsword against the massive glaive. The Oina warrior's scarred arms shook violently beneath the weight of Crimson Helm's weapon, every tendon and vein in them sticking out in a clear indicator that he was literally using all of his strength at that moment.

"Come…on…Alex!" he grunted. "_Move!"_

The silhouette behind him stirred, pushing itself up…

…Before it suddenly let out a pained screech, falling onto its hands and knees as it clutched at its chest.

Hearing the sound, Oki turned his head to look over his shoulder, at the same time the Amaterasu took another concerned step forward, heedless of Oki's warning.

Both of them saw a large, truly _massive_ scar having suddenly opened up on the silhouette-hybrid's back and chest respectively, glowing a bright blue like its facial markings so that it stood out in stark contrast to the black color around it.

In its semi-prone position, Crimson Helm was unable to put its full weight on its weapon, the abomination being forced to use its other one as leverage to prop itself up enough. Oki knew that it was his only saving grace, but it did little to comfort him when the massive glaive he was holding back steadily grew heavier and heavier, his stamina failing him at the worst possible time.

Forced down to a knee, bowing his head from sheer exertion as sweat dripped out from under his mask, Oki barely held his position.

"Alex!" he gasped out. "I…can't hold it…much longer! You…have…to…_move!"_

The silhouette wasn't listening, still clutching at its chest, its muzzle opened up in a grimace of pure shock and pain as it took quick, sharp, _choking _gasps.

"_Euugghhh…"_ it wheezed out, in the most pained sounding groan Amaterasu, Issun, and even Oki had ever heard.

"_Cannot…hold…not…not…enough…"_

"ALEX!" Oki shouted in desperation. _"Move, damn you, MOVE!"_

It tried one last time to stand, trying to use Aku-Hametsu as a prop to push itself up.

Amaterasu noticed that the weapon's glow was now diminishing, regardless of the moonlight from the sky above. It grew weaker by the second…the fire sputtering slightly before going out altogether…the glow becoming extremely dim as the power within it began to falter.

With one final gasp, the silhouette-hybrid lost its balance and collapsed face-first to the ground.

And with a sudden, unexpected puff of black smoke, it disappeared…leaving behind Alex.

The man, fortunately still fully clothed, was curled into a fetal position, his entire body shaking violently from what appeared to be muscle spasms…his breath coming his shaky, uneven gasps.

More than what could be said for Oki, who was hardly able to breathe at all from the pressure of holding the glaive back, feeling his mask beginning to shift down on his face as Crimson Helm's massive sword began to press against the top of it, mere inches away from his cranium and slowly closing.

Amaterasu finally regained her senses, shocked as she was from Alex, and came to the Oina man's rescue. Leaping into the air, straight for Crimson Helm's helmeted face, she struck with a hammering blow right on the thing's forehead, another loud _BONG_ reverberating through the courtyard.

Crimson Helm's already precarious balance was lost, the vibrations in its armor causing its hold on its left glaive to slip, which in turn made it plow into the ground again as the pressure on Oki's blade slid off.

Severely weakened by the ordeal, the Oina man's arms dropped in exhaustion…but he still managed a simple nod to Amaterasu in thanks.

The white wolf wasn't nearly done with the abomination, however. Turning her full attention back to the demon, she immediately took advantage of its stunned state by unleashing a series of hammering blows to the weak points in its armor, until the suit couldn't take any more. Flying off in a spectacular display, the pieces armor scattered across the courtyard, and the true form of Crimson Helm was revealed for all to see.

A massive skeleton, with the skull of a bull, leered at them menacingly, demonic fire suddenly springing to life within the confines of its ribcage and quickly spreading to the rest of the skeletal structure, leaving the demon shrouded in an aura of fire all its own…and yet another line of defense that needed to be broken.

Apparently realizing that the tables had turned on it, Crimson Helm let out a bellowing roar, the aura of fire suddenly intensifying and driving back Amaterasu before she could complete the brush technique that would rid the demon of its last defense. Scampering out of the way as fast as she could, her perfectly shaded white fur was nonetheless singed in several places, the ink dripping from her tail drying instantaneously under heat of the blazing burst.

"WHOA! HOT, HOT, HOT!" she heard Issun scream, followed by a frantic _pat-pat-pat_ as she quickly looked up and saw him trying to smother a lick of flame that had appeared on the hem of his vest.

Tightening its grip around its two glaives, Crimson Helm snarled, and the pieces of armor surrounding him seemed to respond, suddenly flying back towards the demon and slamming back into place, effectively restarting the battle.

But, amazingly, Crimson Helm seemed to want no more part of the trio that had given it such a pummeling, regardless of the fact that one was incapacitated and the other was almost too weak to raise his sword up again.

Snorting loudly, as if to say _"I'll be back to finish the job,"_ Crimson Helm turned tail and immediately began thundering away, towards the large pass that led further back into the village.

Back towards the Gale Shrine, she remembered.

Not intent on letting the demon escape so easily, Amaterasu gave chase, her paws quickly padding along the ground as she accelerated to her fastest speed.

The demon proved extremely canny, however. Taking one of its massive glaives in hand, Crimson Helm swung at the corner of Princess Fuse's house as it passed by, the massive blade smashing through the wood as though it were paper. Already weakened by the flames still consuming it, the beams and supports finally gave way, the burning debris from a quarter section of the house immediately collapsing into Amaterasu's path.

Princess Fuse let out a startled yelp, but refused to move from her place.

"NO! Tei! Ko! Rei!" she called out, trying to go back into the house, only to be driven back by the flames.

Amaterasu frantically looked back to her friends, wanting desperately to help them, but at the same time, knowing that she couldn't let Crimson Helm escape back to the Gale Shrine.

"C'mon, Furball! Make a decision here!" Issun urged, typically not helping matters at all.

Her eyes wandered over to Oki, who was crouched over Alex and checking if he was alright. Noticing her gaze on him, her gave her a reassuring nod, yelling, "_Go!_ I'll help them!"

Nodding in return, she quickly brought her tail up and swept it around in a swirling design, summoning a powerful gust of wind that immediately blew out the flames and allowed her to leap over the debris. Hitting the ground in a run, she tore down the cobblestone path that carved through the small pass, catching sight of Crimson Helm just as it entered the large open area that was before the entrance to the Gale Shrine.

Stopping before the archway that framed the entrance, Crimson Helm seemed to find itself in a dilemma, the opening in the side of the giant mountain too small for the massive armored demon to pass though. Shifting from side to side on its hooves, the demon peered inside before turning to look at Amaterasu, the white wolf dashing through the open area with Issun perched atop her head.

"HAH! We've got 'im now, Ammy! No way he'll fit through there!" he crowed.

The demon shot them a piercing glare, and raised a single hoof, stomping down powerfully and cratering the ground beneath it.

Suddenly, bright orange fire flared up around it in a massive circle, forcing Ammy to stop again as she stared at the demon though the obstacle.

The two entities glared at each other with the upmost hatred…before more fire suddenly coalesced around Crimson Helm's body, engulfing it until it seemed to vanish from sight, leaving nothing but a large, crimson colored fireball floating in the air where the demon had stood.

Slowly moving backwards, the fireball passed through the entrance and disappeared into the darkness within, the wall of flames dissipating as it went. Immediately dashing forward again, Amaterasu dove through the entrance into the cavern…barely catching sight of the fireball passing through another door across the room from her.

As soon as the fireball was through, a massive stone door suddenly slid down behind it, slamming into the ground with a cloud of dust and a demonic red barrier forming over it, preventing anything from even accessing it.

"Aw, what? !" Issun complained. "That's no fair! How the heck are we gonna get to him now? !"

Pacing up to the door and examining the barrier, Amaterasu gave a disgruntled shake of her head and made a rather un-amused sound.

"_We will need the Satomi Power Orbs again, it would seem," _she remarked.

"Ya think?" Issun remarked. "But didn't some of them…uh…'pop', in our last fight with Crimson Helm?"

Amaterasu paused for a moment in thought. Yes, Issun was right about several of the orbs being destroyed in her last fight with Crimson Helm, as the artifacts had provided her with powerful defenses against the demon at the cost of one being destroyed every time the abomination had landed a hit on her. Granted, the majority of the orbs had survived the fight…but without all eight of them, she wasn't sure if the door to the shrine would open again.

"_Well, regardless, it doesn't matter right now,"_ she answered._ "The village still needs our help, and Fuse would be the one to ask about the orbs anyways."_

"If ya say so, Furball…let's just hope Crimson Helm doesn't wreck up the shrine while he's in there. That'd be REAL bad."

* * *

><p>Hopping over the pile of wooden debris that used to be part of Princess Fuse's home, Amaterasu came back into the courtyard to find that Alex was still in his original place where she had left him, but was now sitting up, arms wrapped around his knees and a blank, vacant stare on his face as he looked at the ground in front of him, littered with the bodies of the red samurai he had killed. Next to him were what she realized were the bodies of the five Canine Warriors that had been accompanying Princess Fuse the last time she had seen her about a year ago.<p>

Closer inspection revealed that, thankfully, all of them were still breathing. She had learned from first-hand experience that each of the dogs were hardy and strong, and though their wounds were horrendous, she knew that they would all live through them.

Hearing a loud clatter behind her, she looked back to see Princess Fuse and Oki exiting the now frost-encrusted doorway, helping along who she recognized as Tei, the canine somehow still conscious despite his injuries.

Recognition lit up in the dog's eyes as he looked up at her, and he managed a weak bark.

Understanding the language of canines, being one herself at the moment, Amaterasu translated it as "Well met, savior of the Satomi Household."

Nodding at him in response, she watched as Oki and Fuse deposited him next to his four brothers and sisters in-arms, crouching down among them as they checked their injuries.

Seeing that she wasn't needed at the moment, she looked over to Alex, and (cautiously) went to check on him.

"…_Alex?"_ she said quietly, finding that she could reach him again.

She was surprised when she found a hollow, numb feeling waiting for her within his consciousness.

"_Alex…are you alright?"_

Nothing.

"_Alex…please answer me!"_

Still nothing. She could tell that he was still there…but he wasn't responding. It was as if he didn't even know she was there…or he didn't even care anymore.

At the very least, he didn't appear to be too badly injured, but that was all she could get from him. Huffing slightly and wishing she could do more, she began to turn so as to check on Princess Fuse condition.

"…Am…Ammy…"

She turned about, looking at Alex as she heard his words.

"_Alex…thank goodness!"_ she said, smiling her wolfish smile as she went back to him. _"You had me worried for a mom-"_

"I…I killed them," he interrupted, and the smile slowly went from her face.

"_What, Alex?"_

"I…killed them. I…I killed them all, Ammy."

His arms unwrapped themselves from around his knees as he straightened out his legs…and she saw the massive bloodstains coating the front of his kimono.

One sniff told her that it wasn't his blood…but that hardly seemed to matter to him.

"Wasn't…wasn't even a fight. So…easy. So…much…blood."

"Uh…ok, Tinhead…" Issun laughed nervously. "You're starting to scare me a bit!"

"Not a fight…murder."

"_Alex…"_ Amaterasu said, unsure of what else to say.

"Murdered them…all of them."

He looked up, and she was surprised to see tears on his face, leaving streaks on his soot and ash stained face.

"Ammy…what happened to me?"

She wanted to answer him…but she couldn't. Not in a way that wouldn't damage him any further.

"SAY SOMETHING!" he suddenly yelled at her, so forcefully that she took a step back in surprise, as Alex stood and advanced on her.

"Oh crap! OKI!" Issun yelled.

Oki came to their rescue at that moment, stepping past Amaterasu and strong-arming Alex, the man pushing futilely against him for a few seconds before just giving up and falling to the ground again, face buried in his hands as he began to sob uncontrollably.

"God dammit!" he sobbed, as a deeply concerned Oki crouched down by him. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? !"

* * *

><p><em>I didn't want to believe it at the time, but it was right there in front of me.<em>

_Their lifeless bodies…staring at me blankly._

_I had done what I never thought I would do in my entire life._

_In some kind of rage-induced haze…I had taken another man's life. Several of them._

_I had committed murder…the most unspeakable sin a man was capable of._

_Why?_

_Why me?_

_What sinister part of fate was doing this to me?_

_Was I turning into some kind of monster?_

_A monster that relished in the blood of its victims?_

_A monster that killed…without fear, or remorse?_

_Why?_

_Why me?_

* * *

><p><strong>(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time.)<strong>


	19. Cause and Effect

**Another chapter! Huzzah! A little late, I know, but hanging out with friends has a odd little way of absolutely NOMMING your spare time.**

**But nevermind that. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and I hope you all enjoy this new one!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18: Cause and Effect<strong>

By the time the sun had finally risen again, it was raining…courtesy of Amaterasu's deluge power, in order to save what remained of the burning village.

Dark, grey clouds had filled the air, and the occasional rumble of distant thunder could be heard, as the people of Kusa Village slowly worked to salvage what they could from the absolute wreck that their village had become. Charred, blackened husks of what used to be fine homes had become nothing more than areas to be picked through, as anything even remotely useful – scraps of cloth for tents, un-burnt wood for campfires, and every crumb of food – was gathered and brought down to the impromptu campsite that had been made in Kusa Village's primary courtyard.

This was what the calm majesty of Kusa village had been reduced to…a wet, rain-soaked camp, placed in front of the handful of buildings still relatively intact, filled with tired, distraught villagers.

The mood was not good, to say the least…and the funeral hadn't helped matters much, either.

People who had been cut down by the invaders…people who hadn't escaped their burning homes in time…for them, the funeral had been quick, but also performed with the upmost respect. In strained times such as these, the villagers knew that they could not afford to linger too long on ceremony…painful as it was.

As for the invaders, their bodies had been gathered, dumped in a hastily dug pit, and burned. No honored resting place for them.

As fate would have it, the Kamiki Villagers' aid had been just in time. The supplies that they had brought along with them had been put to immediate and much-needed use. As several of the Kusa Villagers had voiced out loud, no one was sure if the village would have survived at all, had it not been for their assistance. As such, the Kusa Villagers stayed out of their way for the most part, providing assistance when asked, but otherwise giving the Kamiki Villagers the room they needed to work.

This included Amaterasu, the wolf-goddess slowly pacing through the camp, offering words of encouragement to the distraught villagers while doing what she could to ease their pains.

They remembered her. They drew strength and hope from her presence.

She knew this. She would not abandon them.

As she made her way along, she spotted Susano and Oki coming down the path from further in the village, both hefting double armfuls of salvaged wood that they deposited in front of the villagers, taking a quick breather as they watched the pile get divvied up among the large campfires that had been built within the hastily erected tent-town, beneath high-set sheets of cloth that kept the rain off for the most part.

Going over to the two men, she gave them a brief nod, sitting down near them as Issun perched himself in his usual spot atop her head, rainwater running off of his beetle shell helmet.

"Hey…how's it goin', you two?" he asked, even his enthusiasm sounding dampened.

Oki grunted, leaning against a nearby burned building as he crossed his arms and looked down at the ground.

"…Well enough, I suppose." he answered after a moment.

"Lot of work needing to be done…" Susano said as well.

Issun nodded, spilling droplets of water off his helmet and onto Ammy's fur below him, the wolf blinking awkwardly a bit as some of it ran into her eye.

"_And Alex…?"_ Ammy said, asking the question that she and Issun had both been wondering.

Oki looked up a bit, staring at one of the few buildings that were still standing, across the way from them.

"Ishi is tending to him and the other wounded at the moment," he said. "I would have checked on him myself, but the healer refused to let anyone else near him."

Ammy nodded, remembering the fussy tirade that the old woman had put up when many of the Kusa Villagers had tried to go and thank the young man for rescuing their beloved head priestess and her "bodyguards", very literally slamming the door in their faces.

Princess Fuse, on the other hand, had secluded herself in another of the intact buildings with several of her attendants and a smattering of the older villagers whose age and wisdom would provide useful counsel. Before that, she had insisted on doing something to help raise the villagers' spirits, but Amaterasu had immediately objected to that, saying that it would only do more harm than good to appear before them in such a messy state: the edges of her flowing kimono had become scorched and tattered, while her hair had hung about her head in a tangled, ash-stained mess.

Fuse had eventually followed the wolf goddess' advice, while Oki and Issun had spread the word that the princess was alright. That gave the villagers hope, and not a moment too soon.

A minute later, the door creaked open and the woman in question stepped out, looking to be in _far_ better condition. Her hair and makeup had been fixed, and she was wearing a new, albeit more simple looking dress. One of the attendants accompanying her handed her a parasol that had miraculously survived the fires, and Fuse immediately opened it, the rain pattering off of it as she slowly made her way over to them.

Seeing their beloved princess alive and well, the mood of the Kusa Villagers brightened considerably, some bowing their heads respectfully as she passed by while others offered prayers of thanks to the gods. Amaterasu even heard several whispers of thanks for "the Warrior of the Blue Flame", and despite everything that had happened, she couldn't help but manage a brief smile on Alex's behalf.

"Amaterasu," Fuse stated when she drew close, inclining her head respectfully. "Your assistance was most timely. You and your companions have my upmost gratitude."

"_Thank you, Princess Fuse. It is certainly good to see you again, both alive and well,"_ the wolf replied, returning the gesture.

"The feeling is mutual, O Great Wolf," the princess replied. Turning to look at Susano, she nodded respectfully to him as well. "Well met, Susano the Mighty. It seems like only yesterday that you were in Kusa Village, seeking both your destiny, and Crimson Helm, within the Gale Shrine. You have my thanks for assisting Amaterasu in ridding the shrine of the beast that day."

The Kamiki Warrior said nothing, choosing instead to slowly nod in thanks.

Turning to Oki, she examined his mask for a moment, before asking, "…And who might you be?"

"Oki, of the Oina Tribe of Kamui," he answered without skipping a beat.

"Ah, one of the wolf-folk from the north. You are known to us," she remarked, nodding to him in turn. Oki appeared slightly surprised by the extent of her knowledge, but returned the gesture nonetheless.

"Uh, hello? Don't ya think you're missing someone, babe?" Issun piped up, hopping up and down in an attempt to get her attention.

"_Oh, Issun, hush!"_ Amaterasu berated him, but he kept at it, his bouncing scattering water droplets from his helmet onto her and somehow making her even wetter than she already was.

Princess Fuse frowned slightly, apparently not hearing the poncle as she scanned over their group another time.

"I see three brave warriors before me, but one appears to be missing from your group, Amaterasu," she said after a moment.

"Hello? Babe? I'm right here! Helped Ammy with Crimson Something-or-Other! Talked to you about the Satomi Orbs, remember? Hello? _HELLO? ? ?"_

Any further attempts from Issun to get Fuse's attention were cut short when Amaterasu suddenly threw her head back, launching the tiny green ball of light into the air and catching him in her mouth as he came down. Clamping her powerful jaws shut, she sealed Issun in an ivory cage of wolf teeth and reduced his suddenly frantic protests into nothing more than a muffled _"BLEFF! WOOF SPITH!"_

"_That would be Alex,"_ she stated. _"But…I am not certain of his current condition."_

"I see…" the princess replied, a somber look appearing on her face. "He did seem quite distraught, from the looks of it. And…that _thing_ that he became…do you know anything about that?"

Oki shook his head. "Your guess is as good as ours, head priestess," he answered.

She nodded in response. "Well, I had hoped to thank him for saving my life, and the lives of the canine warriors in my service."

She looked down towards the ground, pausing for a moment.

"Were it not for him…that man would have certainly killed me," she finished quietly. That got their attention.

"_What man?"_ Amaterasu asked, taking the moment to spit Issun out so he could hear as well, the poncle giving her an _"I hate you so much…"_ kind of scowl before returning to his place atop her head.

"A man clad in armor as black as midnight, carrying a sword that radiated pure _evil,_" she answered. "He tossed aside the Canine Warriors like they were light as a feather. And when he first confronted me, he demanded that I tell him where the 'Sword-Wielder' could be found. Of course, I could not answer him."

"So he became aggressive," Oki stated.

She nodded. "He…he had me by the throat. He asked me one last time where the Sword-Wielder was…and that was when your friend showed up."

Taking a deep breath to steady herself after reliving her near-death experience, she continued.

"When he heard Alex's voice, it seemed to affect him greatly. It was…it was as if he just _knew._ He let me go almost immediately, and turned to face him…apparently, your friend was the 'Sword-Wielder' he was looking for, for he used the same phrase when addressing him."

"He must have been with the human invaders," Oki deduced. "But if your description is accurate, then it would set him apart from the red samurai that Alex slew on his way to help you."

"Some kind of elite samurai…most likely their leader," Susano muttered, the others nodding in agreement with his logic. It made sense, that much was true.

"Regardless, it does not matter now," Princess Fuse said. "When your friend Alex first transformed and attacked him, he fled on the first chance he got. Something about it seemed to…intimidate him."

"Then we will have to keep an eye out for him in the future," Oki said. "If he was denied what he was looking for after attacking Kusa Village, we may very well being seeing him again."

"Humans with demons, though…the very notion of it baffles me," Fuse mused out loud. "And the reappearance of Crimson Helm as well…how is it possible?"

The question was on everyone's mind, but no one could answer her…except Issun.

"Aw, don't get all tense over it, babe!" Issun said, striking a heroic pose. "We'll get to the bottom of this, you can count on it!"

"Oh! Brave Issun! When did you arrive?" the princess asked innocently.

Amaterasu had to admit, the look on the poncle's face at that moment was _priceless._

* * *

><p>No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it out of his head.<p>

Those faceplates, shaped like human skulls…one slightly askew, revealing the face of a man.

A face with a blank, lifeless stare on it. The face of a man he had killed.

The smears of crimson across his hands and chest. The blood of a man he had killed.

Sitting amongst the bodies. The bodies of the men he had killed.

The men he had _murdered._

_Why?_ He asked himself this question for the hundredth time since that incident.

Why did he kill them?

Why did the sword react so strongly to them?

Why _him?_

The endless cycle of questions that had been repeating through his mind for hours began yet another revolution, and Alex gripped the sides of his head in mental agony, letting off a quiet, pained moan as the images flashed by again…mixed with bits and pieces of the images from the sword, at the moment it had taken over and made his whole world disappear.

Who was this Amunae?

What had happened to him?

Why did he say, "Black Hand"?

He dug his nails into his temples, the spike of pain briefly dulling the memories and helping him focus a tiny bit.

But it wasn't enough. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get it all out of his head.

"_I murdered them all…I've committed the most unspeakable sin a man can do…and now, I've got a one-way ticket straight to hell."_

He was never that religious of a man…but if he could quiet his thoughts right now, he was certain that he'd be on his knees, begging forgiveness from _someone_.

God? Maybe. Buddha? Worth a try.

Amaterasu?

The thought suddenly struck him out of nowhere…and for the briefest of moments, his mind cleared, replaced by the memory of the white wolf standing above him in the Spider Queen's lair…protecting him.

Then his rationality took over again.

"_N-no…that's…that's crazy…"_ he thought.

"_Is it?"_

The voice suddenly rang out in his mind, and he began looking around the small room that Ishi had put him in to keep him separate from the other wounded, containing only a small bed that he was sitting on, with Aku-Hametsu lying in its sheath next to him and the door leading out behind him.

His eyes settled on the sword, and he slowly reached over to grab it, sliding it out of its sheath and examining the bloodstained metal. His bandage-braced chest let off a twinge as he did this, the pain from some unknown injury that he had sustained beginning to sneak in.

"What the hell do you want from me, huh?" he said, staring down at the weapon accusingly. "You mind-control me twice without warning, speaking only to give me some kind of weird-ass power and keeping quiet the rest of the time, no matter how much I prod and poke you? Just _what the hell are you really? !"_

The tension in his voice was apparent, but he didn't care if anyone heard him.

"_I am your ally, Alexander Grey. I am here to help you,"_ the sword replied calmly.

"Bullshit!" he snapped, feeling hot blood rising in his face. "You call making me kill other human beings _helpful? !"_

"_They are not your kind anymore. They deserved to die."_

"BULLSHIT!" he yelled again, standing up and angrily thrashing the blade up and down in front of him. "You made me murder them, and you know it, you piece of shit! Now it's THEIR blood on MY HANDS!"

"_Alexander, please! Control your anger! I can explain!"_

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed. "JUST…SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Cocking his arm back, he punctuated his sentence by throwing the weapon as hard as he could at the wall of the room, the blade spinning as it left his hand and embedding itself up to an inch into the wood, leaving it protruding from the wall as it wavered back and forth.

The room was silent for a moment, broken by the sound of Alex falling back onto the bed and burying his face in his hands, his despair overtaking him as his anger faded away.

He could slowly feel the blade's presence retreating from his mind. But before it went entirely, he heard it whisper something.

"_Alexander…truly…I am sorry for how you feel."_

"Just…shut up…" he whispered, choking back a sob as he wiped the moisture from his eyes. "Whoever…or _whatever_ you are…just…_leave me alone_."

The sword's presence slowly left him, and he was alone with his thoughts again.

* * *

><p>Ishi let off a tired sigh, as she wrapped what felt like her hundredth bandage that day. She had worked tirelessly through the night, helping the wounded as they slowly filed into the house…or were carried in. Many simply needed a bad cut bandaged or an application of salve for burns, but many more needed more serious care, laid out in rows of beds as she staunched bleeding and braced broken limbs.<p>

She was working as fast and as best she could…but the old woman had to admit, with so many patients to care for at once, even _her_ stamina was reaching its limits.

Feeling the man's forehead in case of a fever from infected wounds, she concluded that he would live for the time being, adjusting his blanket in a very motherly sort of way before moving over to the pack of five dogs at the end of the room. Taking care of the canines had been different than her usual fare of human beings, but all and all, it was essentially the same work that had to be done. The canines, as a result, were sporting numerous bandages on their bodies, one with its head wrapped up tightly and leaving its ears poking out of the top.

Ishi shook her head at the idea of having a pack of dogs for bodyguards, but from what little she had seen of Princess Fuse, the woman seemed to have her head on straight at least.

Hearing a knock on her door, she stood and used some spare cloth to wipe the blood of her hands before going over and opening it up, seeing Amaterasu, Oki, Susano, and none other than Princess Fuse of all people standing outside.

"Hello, good healer," the priestess said, bowing slightly in respect. "May we come in?"

Ishi chewed on her bottom lip a bit as she examined the rain-soaked group, before saying, "No. The wounded need their rest."

"Please, healer. It is important. I wish to see that my loyal guards are safe and healthy," Princess Fuse said, almost pleadingly.

"And we wish to see Alex as well," Oki said, stepping forward. "We only wish to know if he is alright."

"And again, I say no," Ishi responded, determined to hold her ground. "If you wish to see them, you'll just have to wait until-"

"_Please, Ishi. It's important,"_ Amaterasu spoke quietly. Narrowing her thoughts until she was speaking only to the healer, she added, _"I heard the shouting. Please, let me speak with him. I can vouch for Princess Fuse's integrity. She will cause you no trouble either."_

Ishi let off an aggravated sigh, realizing that she wasn't going to get any rest from the persistent group.

"…Very well," she said at last. "Amaterasu and Princess Fuse may come in. As for you two…" she began, pointing at Oki and Suasno, "…make yourselves useful and stand guard at the door. No one else is allowed to enter. _Understand?"_

Her assertive tone made Oki raise an eyebrow and Susano sweat nervously a bit, but the two men eventually nodded and moved into place on either side of the door while Amaterasu and Princess Fuse went in, the healer closing the door gently behind her.

"Your dogs are at the end of the room," she said to the priestess, pointing her towards the pack of canines. Turning to Amaterasu, she said, "Alex is in the back room."

The wolf nodded, and moved towards the door, when Ishi's hand stopped her.

"Please, Amaterasu…" the healer began, speaking quietly. "For the love of your godly brethren, _be gentle with him_."

"…_I will, Ishi…thank you."_

The healer stood and moved off, watching as Princess Fuse crouched down by her Canine Warriors. The dogs seemed to perk up a bit at her presence, one panting happily as she gently pet him on the head.

Moving past them to the door, she noticed Issun perched on the tip of her nose, and said to him, _"Stay out here Issun…I think it would be more beneficial for Alex if I spoke to him alone."_

Turning to look at her amber eyes, the poncle opened his mouth as if he meant to say something, but eventually closed it and nodded, hopping off to the floor.

"Ok, Furball…" he said. "But if he comes at you again, I'm just a howl away, ok?"

Nodding, she went up to the door and pushed it open with the tip of her nose, immediately spotting Alex sitting on the bed…and his sword lodged in the wall in front of him.

He turned his head ever so slightly to look over his shoulder at her, then went back to staring at the wall without saying a word.

Using her tail to slowly push the door shut behind her, she slowly went up and and sat down on the floor next to him.

And she waited.

Several minutes went by without a word between them.

Nothing but silence, and the sound of the rainfall outside.

Finally, she heard Alex take a deep breath and let it out slowly, and she perked up slightly to listen.

"You know, Ammy…" he began, putting his chin in his hand as he leaned on his elbow, "…I always went through my life with what was considered the _right way._ I didn't drink, or do drugs…hell, I never even stole money from my mom's purse. Not a single, seriously bad thing to hang over my conscience."

She remained silent, listening quietly as he talked.

"I was always raised to do the right thing…and I DID the right thing, as best I could, during my whole life up to this point. I always thought to myself, 'I'm not going to be that kind of guy'…and I lived my entire life thinking that."

He shook his head slightly, but didn't move an inch from his spot.

"Fat lot of good that did me…I never saw it coming. I never thought that I would become _'that guy'_. And now…I'm a goddamn murderer."

"_No, you're not,"_ she said at last.

"Yes I am," he replied with barely any emotion in his voice. "I killed them, Ammy. Far as I can tell, it wasn't even a fight. I just _slaughtered _them all."

"_You did it to help Princess Fuse."_

"Huh!" he scoffed, harsh and mocking. "Is that really your explanation? That I _did it to help?_ That I ended the lives of several human beings – human beings with entire lives of their own – just to _HELP?"_

"_You didn't do it. The sword did."_

"Doesn't matter. It was still with my own two hands."

"_Fine, then. If that is what you really think. But still, it isn't your fault."_

"How can you say that? I killed them, Ammy! I KILLED them!"

"_Yes, you killed them. I cannot deny that. But you did not murder them."_

"Is there a difference? Can you look at me and really say that there's a _difference?"_

He turned to look at her, and was met with the same piercing gaze of her amber eyes.

Looking at them, he could see the emotions running through her. He could see the sorrow in her eyes.

She felt sorry for him. Somehow…she knew how he felt.

"_Alex...look outside that door, and tell me what you see."_

His gaze went from her, to the only door in the room, and he gave her an unconvinced look. But her eyes showed nothing but truth in them.

Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his feet, went over to the door, and nudged it open just a crack.

Just outside, he saw the same woman that he must have saved, crouched down by her small pack of dogs, petting several of them on the head and…thanking them?

They all looked tired…disheveled…but they were alive…and they were all smiling, because they knew it.

And deep down, Alex knew that _they_ knew.

He quietly pulled the door closed, leaning against it as he looked down at his feet.

"That's…that's Princess Fuse, isn't it?" he said after a minute.

"_Yes, she is…"_ Amaterasu answered. "…_and the only reason she is standing there, at this moment in time, is because of _you_, Alex."_

She slowly padded over to him, as he slid down against the wall to her level, meeting her gaze again.

"_You went to help her, but those men were determined to stop you. You had no choice but to fight them, to defend yourself…deep down, you knew that was an inevitability…and you knew that you would have to kill, or be killed. That is the way of things, sometimes."_

Moving right up to him, she put her head on his propped up knee, putting her face close to his.

"_Because of you fighting those men, and removing them as a threat, you saved Fuse, her bodyguards, and perhaps many of the villagers as well. Because of you, they are _alive,_ Alex."_

"But…is it really that easy?" he whispered, in all seriousness. "Is it really that easy to just rationalize it all away like that?"

She was silent for a moment, before she said, _"No…I will not be so bold as to claim it is. But you must remember, Alex…hardships like this are unavoidable. There will always be times in your life when moving on seems impossible."_

She let off a quiet, sad sounding whine, as he closed his eyes.

"_All you can do is steel your heart, and keep going. If you can find the strength to get back up after falling, and push past the hard times, you will always find the good in the world soon enough…and you will be a stronger person because of it."_

She pulled her head away, and looked at him. She could almost see the gears turning in his head as he thought over what she had told him.

"_You are a strong young man already, Alexander Grey. You are a kind, caring individual who I have had the upmost pleasure in meeting. You are NOT a monster, and you are most certainly NOT a murderer. You are a human being! A brave, strong warrior! I know you can rise above this, Alex. You must."_

Several more minutes passed, Amaterasu watching closely to see if her words would have any effect.

Slowly, he opened his eyes…and she could tell that something had changed in them.

"Maybe…" he began, stopping as he took a deep breath to steady himself. "…maybe you're right. But…I still don't feel any better about it."

She gave him a brief smile, along with a friendly lick across his cheek, surprising him as he suddenly smacked his hand over the wet spot like he had been stung.

"_That only proves my point, Alex…an actual murderer wouldn't have the same feelings that you do."_

"I…I guess you've got a point," he answered…and he actually managed a tiny smile himself, as he pulled himself back to his feet.

He went back over to the bed, and she noticed him staring at the blade that was still lodged in the wall.

"Still, if I'm not a murderer…then what the heck is _in_ that sword?"

"_I…cannot say for certain,"_ she said at length. _"When I saw you, in that…'state' of yours, the flames around your body were too strong for me to see it well."_

"Well, that's still better than what I've got…which is pretty much nothing. It just happened, and…nothing, right until you came up and started talking to me."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before turning to look at her again.

"Give it to me straight, Ammy…what _exactly_ did you see?"

She was silent for a moment, not meeting his gaze, until she eventually said, _"If you think you can handle it, then…I might be able to show you instead."_

The look he had told her that he was skeptical at best…but nonetheless, he nodded.

"Do it, then."

The moment the words left his mouth, a flood of images came rushing into his vision again, though this time, they were coming from Amaterasu. As a result, the process was slower, gentler, and much less traumatic.

He saw…a silhouette of _something_…something that, while standing on two legs, looked almost entirely animalistic in appearance from its outline alone. A triangular shaped head, an angular muzzle full of razor sharp teeth, glowing blue lines on the face that resembled war paint…not to mention a highly muscular body, its outline alluding to an almost perfectly chiseled form, with clawed hands, feet, and a thrashing, writhing mass of…multiple tails?

The image faded, and Amaterasu watched anxiously as Alex shook his head to clear the disorientation.

"Well…damn…all that came from Aku-Hametsu?"

"_So it would seem,"_ the wolf replied. _"And its fighting skill was no less impressive than its appearance."_

"And yet, this Crimson Helm demon still got away?"

"…_Though I am not proud to admit it…yes, it did. Crimson Helm is a beast who feels no pain, and can inflict horrible amounts of devastation on the world around it. Although…your sword's 'form' seemed to inflict enough damage that it must have decided that we were not worth the effort."_

"So…what's our next move then?"

"_That, we will need to ask Princess Fuse."_

He nodded, looking away from her. "Alright…you can tell the others I'll be coming out soon. I…I just need a minute…you know…to get organized."

"_Take all the time that you need, Alex. We will wait,"_ she said, pushing open the door as she went to leave.

Suddenly, she heard him say, "Ammy…wait!"

She stopped mid-stride and turned her head to look at him.

"I…uh…I never really said this before…probably should have, back in the ruins..."

She tilted her head inquisitively at him, the wolf equivalent of raising an eyebrow.

"…Thanks."

She smiled again.

"_If you ever need anything, Alex…anything at all…all you have to do is ask."_

Turning back, she went out the door, slowly letting it close behind her.

Going up to the sword, still lodged in his wall, Alex gave it a look that bordered between accusation and confusion.

The weapon was deadly…not to mention mysterious. It had helped him, yes…but in a way he didn't want. A way that…_frightened _him.

It scared him. He didn't want to admit it, especially to himself, but…he was scared of the thing.

He reached out and slowly wrapped his hand around the weapon's hilt, feeling the material against his palm as he stood there.

"I don't know who, or _what_ you are…" he whispered to it. "…and hell, if you can understand me, then I don't trust you either. But…you're one of the only things I've really got going for me right now."

Bringing his other hand up, he wrapped it around the hilt just below his other hand.

"So, I'm gonna keep you…for now. But mark my words…the next time you decide to open your mouth, you and me are going to have a _serious _talk. Understand?"

If the sword did, it gave no indication of it.

"_Fine, then,"_ he thought, tugging hard and wrenching the blade out of the wood with a loud _crack!_

* * *

><p>Going back outside with Princess Fuse, Amaterasu and Issun were met by Ok, the masked man showing clear concern, even though his mask.<p>

"How is he?" he asked quietly.

"_He should be fine…for the time being at least,"_ she answered, flattening her ears as the rain began to hit her again. _"I only hope that this doesn't affect him too deeply."_

"Alex is a strong man. He will pull through."

"_We can only hope,"_ she said, nodding. _"Now, there only remains the question of what to do with Crimson Helm and the Gale Shrine."_

"Yes…" Princess Fuse said, approaching them. "You and the Kamiki Villagers have provided us with much-needed assistance, for which we are grateful…but I fear it will not mean much if the demon is not removed from the shrine of the Satomi House."

She looked up towards where her house and the entrance to the shrine were, before shifting her gaze higher up and peering into the distance, where the faint outline of what seemed like a large windmill could be seen resting on the top of the mountain that the village was built against.

"I have a tremendous favor to ask of you and your friends, Amaterasu," she said after a moment. "For the sake of this village, we cannot allow the demon to roam free in the shrine. You have already given us so much help, but…will you enter the shrine and purge the demon?"

"Aw, you don't even have to ask, babe! All we need are the Satomi Power Orbs and we'll get right on it!" Issun spoke up.

"Ah, but you see…therein lies the problem," Fuse said. "As I am sure you are aware, Brave Issun, several of the orbs were destroyed in the last confrontation you and Amaterasu had with Crimson Helm. And without the artifacts of my household, the door to the shrine cannot be opened."

"What? ! How the heck are we gonna take out Crimson Helm if we can't even get to him? !"

"There is more than one way into the shrine, Brave Issun. All you have to do is _look up_."

"Huh?" the poncle said, leaning his head back as he stared upward and spilling more rainwater onto Amaterasu's head.

All he saw was the Kusa Village windmill…but he suddenly remembered that deep within the structure lay the path that, while originally leading _out _of the mountain _to _the windmill, could also lead them back _into _the shrine as well.

But, there was one large problem with that plan.

"Aw, _crap_…" the poncle muttered, shaking his head in exasperation. "You're telling me that we gotta _CLIMB _all the way up there? !"

"Without the orbs, it is the only way," the princess replied matter-of-factly.

"_Don't worry,"_ Amaterasu said determinedly. _"The demon will be gone before the end of the day. I will make sure of that."_

"Not without me, you won't," Oki said, coming up beside her. "I will go as well."

She gave him a slightly surprised look, but her trust for the Oina man quickly overrode it, and she nodded in response.

"I'll stay here, if you two pooches don't mind," Susano said, crossing his arms. "_Someone_ has to watch the village for more of those blasted demons while you two are away!"

"Very well, then," Princess Fuse said. "I will await your return, brave Issun and wolves. The best of luck to both of you!"

Thanking her, the wolf, man, and poncle began moving off towards the side of the mountain, where they would begin their climb.

"Hey! Hold up! You're not leaving without me!"

(_The New Raemon – Lo Bello y Lo Bestia_)

Turning around, the three companions saw none other than Alex jogging up in his full suit of armor, his black cloak over his shoulders with the hood pulled up to give him protection from the rain, while his sword was back in place across his back. On his belt was tied the small sack that held the mysterious blue spirit globe, its purpose still unknown to them all.

"Huh? You're comin' too, Tinhead?" Issun said confusedly, Alex slowing down as he came up to them. "But, aren't you…kinda…not feeling ok?"

"Yeah, kinda…but, I think I'm good now, thanks to Ammy," he said. "I'm…I'm still not cool with killing other human beings, though…so don't turn to me if we see more of them in there, ok guys?"

"_Do not worry, Alex," _Amaterasu said reassuringly. _"If we see more of those men in there, we will spare you from fighting them. You deserve that much, at least, for everything you've done."_

"Which includes saving me," Princess Fuse said, moving up to Alex. "You have my thanks, young Alex. Were it not for you, I fear that the hope of this village would not last. Because of you, we still have a chance to rebuild from the ashes."

In a surprising move, she bowed low to the man...a universal sign of respect, which only carried more weight, as it was coming from a person of high standing.

"Thank you. I hope that, someday, when this village lives again, we will be able to repay you. _All_ of you," she added, turning to look at the other three.

"There is no need, high priestess," Oki responded. "We do this because it must be done. No form of payment is required."

"What? !" Issun exclaimed. "Whaddya MEAN there's no need for-!"

There was a sudden _glomp,_ and Issun was back in Amaterasu's mouth, yelling his head off from the sound of it.

"…Guess we better get going then," Alex spoke up after a moment. Nodding to Princess Fuse, he said, "Ma'am," before moving to join the others.

Slowly making their way up the winding path, past Princess Fuse's ruined home, through the pass behind it, and into the large clearing that held the entrance to the Gale Shrine, the group found themselves standing in front of the natural wall next to the door.

"Well, let's get this show on the road!" Issun said, holding on as Amaterasu moved first, leaping into the air, pushing off the wall with her paws, and leaping to the ledge that was a good deal above the ground, leaving a sudden cloud of red maple leaves behind her.

Turning to Alex, Oki said quietly, "Are you sure that you want to come with us?"

Alex sighed, putting his armored hands on his hips as he looked up at the climb ahead.

"…Yeah…I'm sure. And don't try to talk me out of it," he said after a moment.

"The thought never crossed my mind," the Oina man replied, turning back to the wall and ki wall-jumping up to the ledge above where Amaterasu was waiting.

"C'mon, Tinhead!" Issun shouted down. "Shake a leg!"

Copying Oki's motions, Alex ki-jumped up to the ledge as well, earning himself a quick nod from Oki for a technique-well-executed.

Turning to the wall, they began the long, _long_ climb up towards Kusa Village's windmill.

* * *

><p><strong>Ugh...writing those emotional bits is HARD. I really hope I did a good enough job with Ammy's pep talk, cause that part is gonna be kinda awkward otherwise.<strong>

**Anyways, rate, review, and I'll see you next time.**


	20. The Gale Shrine

**Alright! Another semi-late chapter with another semi-lame excuse to go along with it! What's it this time, Alex?**

**Alex: "Looks like Batman: Arkham City this time."**

**Yes! I just got the game last week, and HO BOY is it fun, right Alex?**

**Alex: *Punches random thug to the ground, steps on his face, and interrogates him for Riddler trophy locations***

**Eh, I think he's got the idea.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19: The Gale Shrine<strong>

"Uh, guys? I know this isn't a good time, but…_this seems like a really bad idea! ! !"_ Issun yelled, sweating profusely as he looked down at the gaping drop beneath them.

"_Issun, for the last time…HUSH! Your complaining is NOT making this any easier!"_ Amaterasu berated him, the wolf's back legs kicking the air wildly as she struggled to pull herself up onto the next ledge in line.

Oki shook his head, ignoring the bickering between the two as he climbed up the wall behind them, testing the grips for Alex, who was climbing up behind him in turn. The young man had plastered himself against the wall as close as he could get, and had remained in such a position for the entire climb so far, having realized their lack of climbing equipment at a conveniently inappropriate time (around halfway up the side of the mountain).

Catching up to Amaterasu, who was still struggling to get up, Oki gave her a light push on the rump, eliciting an annoyed response from the wolf goddess, but otherwise achieving the desired effect of getting her up and over the edge. Pulling himself up after her, he looked back and saw Alex's hands appear over the edge, the young man apparently gripping onto it for dear life, if the furrows that his gauntleted hands were digging into it were any indication.

Coming over to him, Amaterasu bit onto his cloak and pulled him up the rest of the way, the man clumsily flopping onto the ledge and breathing hard as he slowly pushed himself into a crouch and sat down against the side of the mountain face. Oki pulled out a water skin and, after taking several sips, offered it to Alex, who promptly snatched it out of the Oina man's hand and chugged down several gulps, nearly choking on it in the process.

Once their thirst was quenched, Oki set to laying out several selections of dried meat and fruit for their lunch, the rain having stopped several hours ago and allowing the sun to shine forth again, revealing its peak position at the mid-point in the sky.

"So what should we expect when we get in there?" Alex asked while they ate.

"_Not much, actually,"_ Amaterasu answered. _"When I first came here, there was only the tiniest smattering of demons to deal with, other than Crimson Helm. This was due mostly to the windmill's most important purpose, the very reason why it is considered sacred by the people of Kusa Village: it's divine wind."_

"Divine wind?"

"_Yes, for the windmill was blessed by Kazegami, God of the Wind, and a good friend of mine back on the Celestial Plain. His power flows through the structure, and as such, the wind it creates has the innate ability to drive away any demons that threaten to harm the village below."_

"Oh, cool. So it's kinda like the Konohana Tree in that respect?"

"_Exactly…but unlike the Konohana Tree, the windmill is not always in constant effect. The last time I was here, I had to borrow power from Kazegami in order to get the windmill turning again and drive away the corruption that had settled over Kusa Village…a corruption that had been created by none other than Crimson Helm once he had occupied the shrine."_

"Ah…" Alex said, nodding as he pieced it together. "So_ that's_ why it's so important that we get him out of it."

"_Yes, for if we do not, Kusa Village will fall under his corruption once more."_

Once they had finished eating, the long climb resumed once more, the group back to their usual antics as they continued to ascend. As the sun slowly crept along in the sky, the warm rays beating against their backs, the top of the mountain grew ever closer as the group drew towards their goal.

Feeling himself sweating like a pig under the rays of the sun, as if the warmth it was providing was stronger than usual to make up for the earlier rain, Alex found himself wishing for the strong gusts of cooling wind that were surely waiting for them up higher, provided by the windmill itself.

But as they got closer and closer to the top, he felt no wind pouring down the side of the mountain.

"Uh…is it just me, or is there a surprising lack of the 'divine wind' that Ammy mentioned?" he shouted up at the group ahead of him, his voice echoing from the elevation they were at.

Oki, Issun, and Amaterasu all looked down at him at the same time.

"He's right," Oki stated, looking back up to the wolf above him. "I don't feel any wind myself…which means…"

"_The windmill must have stopped turning,"_ Amaterasu finished. _"That is NOT good. It means Crimson Helm is already beginning to exert his influence! We have to hurry before the village gets overtaken!"_

Picking up the pace, the group double-timed it up the side of the mountain, determined to reach their goal as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, with the increase in speed came a decrease in concern for their personal safety, which Alex was the unfortunate one to discover when the rock he was using for a foothold suddenly gave way beneath him.

"Oh, _Jesus!"_ he quickly shouted, barely catching himself and shaking violently as a sudden jolt of fear-induced adrenaline spiked through him. The rock that had given way plummeted down towards one of the rock ledges far below, and impacted with an echoing _'CRACK!'_

The sound of rock colliding with rock echoed noisily up past them, and Oki, Issun, and Amaterasu all looked back down at him again.

"You ok down there, Tinhead?" Issun shouted.

"Yeah…yeah, just peachy," Alex muttered, still shaking violently as he remained plastered against the mountain face.

Then they started hearing voices…voices that came from up above, over the edge of the mountaintop that lay just around a dozen feet away from them.

"_Did anyone else hear that?"_

"_Yeah, I think it came from over…the edge?"_

The voices were scratchy, and a tad screechy as well…almost sounding as though they belonged to _birds_ of all things.

"_You! Get over there and check it out!"_

All four of the companions, stuck on the side of the mountain, could do nothing as they heard a quiet flapping of wings, before seeing a face look over the edge and immediately spot them.

At first glance, it was essentially just a crow's head, on a long, skinny neck comparable to those of cranes. But that was before Alex spotted the tight cluster of horribly misshapen eyes, each one fixated directly on the group that he was a part of and watching curiously.

The two parties stared at each other for a moment, neither one making a move.

"Uh…hey buddy…" Issun slowly said.

"Hello…" the odd bird creature replied. "You…wouldn't happen to be trying to get up here, would you?"

"Um…would it surprise you if I said 'yes'?"

"That it would…that it would…"

A few more seconds went by.

"_BRAAAWWWWWKKKK! Intruders! INTRUDERS!"_ the crow-like creature suddenly screeched, a flurry of similar screeches and shouts erupting from behind it as the mountain edge exploded into motion, no less than _six_ of the creatures coming into view as they flew into the air and began surrounding them.

Now able to see their entire bodies, Alex could spot each of them wearing a massive red bead necklace over a tattered, dirty men's kimono, with the typical scaly feet of a bird that sported razor sharp talons poking out the bottom of the "skirt" piece. Each of them was flying by using what looked like a pair of elegant fans in place of wings…and each of them was carrying a rather nasty looking katana.

"Talk to me, Ammy! What the hell are these things? !" he shouted, as angry bird screeches filled the air around them.

"_Crow tengu!"_ she shouted. _"Whatever you do, watch out for their blades and talons!"_

"_No problem there…"_ he thought to himself, drawing Aku-Hametsu as Oki and Amaterasu readied their own weapons.

Cawing loudly, the crow tengu came at them, splitting up with two attacking each one of the companions. Alex and Oki were immediately hard pressed, swatting at the crow tengu with their swords while doing what they could to try and reach a more stable position from which to fight from. Climbing with only one hand available proved exceedingly difficult, however, and the two men soon found themselves in danger of being overwhelmed by the persistent demons.

Amaterasu fared a little better than them, as she could wield her own weapons simply with force of mind, and before long, one of the crow tengu went plummeting past Alex and Oki, its sword broken by a strong power slash and its skull crushed in by a well-placed reflector strike. The other one attacking her was trying to get in past her guard, and was met with a tiny ball of green light right in the face, Issun watching Ammy's back by leaping onto the demon's beak and going to town on its eyes with Denkomaru.

Taking advantage of her brief opening, Amaterasu yelled, _"Get to higher ground! We won't last very long against these things if we don't have a stable position to fight from!"_

"Easier said than done!" Alex shouted back, whipping his blade back and forth to drive off one of the crow tengu on him. The other one dove in past the first one, exchanging strikes with the man while the other one recovered and preventing him from climbing any higher for the moment.

Oki, more experienced with the ins and outs of rock climbing from living in mountainous Kamui his whole life, had an easier time keeping his balance while fending off the tengu on him…but even so, the Oina man couldn't see any openings that he could exploit without accidentally throwing himself off the mountain face. The crow tengu were too fast and nimble in the air, coming in for a quick strike before retreating out of range.

So, he improvised.

Waiting until one of the crows came diving at him with its sword again, Oki pushed himself off to the side at the very last moment, catching another nearby handhold and hearing a satisfying _crack_ behind him as the tip of the demon's blade buried itself in the stone wall next to him. Not wasting a second, Oki immediately raised his broadsword and hacked downward with it, striking the tengu right on the skinniest part of its neck and decapitating it.

Unfortunately, doing this had left the Oina man open, and before he could raise his weapon back up again, the other crow tengu was already closing in for the kill.

There was a loud _FWAP_, and suddenly, a line of glowing beads had wrapped around its neck, Amaterasu's rosary stopping the demon before it could reach Oki and immediately setting to slamming it into the wall over and over again.

Watching as she released the demon's broken body and let it fall, Oki looked back up to her and gave her a curt nod in thanks.

A startled shout from below drew both their attentions, and looking down, they could see Alex still struggling with his two assailants, one nursing a nasty cut across its chest from where the man must have gotten a lucky hit while the other had somehow gotten ahold of his cloak with its talons, flapping backwards as hard as it could in an attempt to pull the man from the mountain face.

Reacting first, Oki began jumping, sliding, and half-falling down as fast as he could in order to get to Alex, Amaterasu following suit the moment she saw him moving.

"Get…the hell off me…you _damn dirty crow!"_ Alex shouted, taking the now-glowing Aku-Hametsu and stabbing the sword up over his head, catching the tengu that was pulling him and sinking the razor-sharp weapon deep into its torso.

With a strangled "CAW!", the crow tengu released him and plummeted downwards…but the effort of getting rid of his attacker had cost Alex what little remained of his grip on the wall.

"Oh no…_oh no…_AMMY!" he shouted, right before he slipped from the mountain face.

Unable to reach him in time, Oki could only stare in horror as Alex fell…right up to the point where a sudden streak of white and red shot past him, Amaterasu having flung herself off into a free-fall after the young man.

Tumbling through the air, Alex saw Amaterasu diving towards him, and even with the wind whistling past his ears, he could still hear her shout:

"_Alex, the blossom! USE THE BLOSSOM!"_

It took him a second to process what she said, but he finally came to his senses and quickly began searching himself for where he was keeping it, finally remembering that he had it in the same sack as the orb and pulling it out as fast he could.

Now falling back-first towards the ground, Alex chucked the thing as hard as he could, watching it fly into the air above him, past Amaterasu, and explode with color into its rotating, hovering position behind her.

As soon as this happened, Amaterasu caught up with Alex, catching him by the cloak and immediately heaving them both around, her tail trailing ink through the air as they went.

With a _fwish,_ a large green vine suddenly sprang into existence, slipping around Amaterasu's midsection and connecting to Sakuya's Blossom in the space of a heartbeat.

Everything seemed to slow down, as the vine stretched, Alex quickly slipping his arm around the wolf holding him for fear of falling again as Issun screamed in horror…

_TWANG!_

…and the vine snapped them all back up, their momentum from falling in the opposite direction transferring into a massive force that rapidly pulled them back up to the blossom and threw them _past_ it.

The wind whistling past his ears again, Alex could only stare and hold on as the man-wolf-poncle projectile shot up the side of the mountain face with insane momentum.

The crow tengu that Alex had wounded was the first victim of this crazy turn of events, the demon letting out a frightened _"SQUAWK!" _as the living projectile slammed into it, leaving nothing but a cloud of feathers behind as it was forcefully taken along for the ride.

Oki, finding himself in a similar position as he watched the four-person projectile rocket up towards him, could only shake his head in disbelief, mere moments before the group hit him too.

Flying up and over the edge of the mountain face, Alex, Amaterasu, Issun, Oki, and the unfortunate crow tengu finally broke apart, every one of them tumbling through the air as they plummeted towards the ground on top of the mountain.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"SQAAAAAAWWWWWK!"

_WHAM!_

Once the dust had finally settled, Alex was face down in the dirt, limbs splayed out in every direction and the still-glowing Aku-Hametsu stuck in the ground nearby. Sakuya's Blossom, in the meantime, came up over the edge, wrapped itself back up, and plopped down into his outstretched (and twitching) hand.

Amaterasu was lying on top of him, upside down across his lower back, her muzzle slightly open as she looked up into the sky and wondered what all those little birds were doing around her head. Issun, usually never too far from the wolf, was nowhere to be seen.

Oki, in turn, was lying on top of both of them, at a more diagonal angle when compared to Alex, but enough that when he pulled his head up and shook off the disorientation, he realized that he was face-to-face with Amaterasu…the wolf conveniently recovering from her own disorientation at that exact moment and looking up into his masked face, her paws held up in the air in a rather cute pose.

"Oh…Am-Amaterasu!" he stuttered out. "I…uh…er…"

She gave him a mildly perplexed look, and he suddenly found himself glad that he was wearing a mask, so as to hide the beet-red blush on his face at that moment.

"_You may wish to get off me soon, Oki…I fear we may be crushing Alex."_

Right on cue, there was a muffled groan from beneath them, sounding vaguely like, _"Lungs…can't…breathe…"_

"Oh…yes, o-of course!" Oki stammered, quickly getting up while Ammy rolled to the side off of Alex, the man suddenly rolling onto his back and gasping for air…revealing a very flat looking Issun that had been plastered against his chest plate.

"Should've…stayed…in Ponc'tan…" the poncle wheezed, as Amaterasu gently pried him off and gave him a shake, snapping him back into his normal dimensions.

* * *

><p>A short distance away, the lone crow tengu let off a groan as it pulled its long neck and head from the ground, slowly standing up and weaving about dizzily as it stumbled around.<p>

"What's that?" he mumbled to no one in particular, as he began to near the edge of the cliff. "Oh! Why yes, I would be _delighted_ to take you to the dance, Miss Clementine!"

With a quiet _fwoosh_, he disappeared over the edge.

* * *

><p>Once he had caught his breath, Alex stood up and retrieved Aku-Hametsu, Amaterasu and the recently transformed Wolf-Oki resorting to shaking the dirt and dust off their fur.<p>

"Uh…thanks Ammy," Alex muttered, after a few dry, wheezy coughs. "And sorry for squishing you, Issu-"

"Not a word of this, Tinhead," the poncle interrupted.

"But…"

"_Not…a…word."_

"Quiet," Oki cut in, stepping forward with his eyes fixated on something. "We're here."

Following his gaze, Alex and the others immediately spotted the massive structure looming above them: Kusa Windmill, sitting atop an elaborately crafted wooden tower that stretched high into the sky, with numerous walkways lining the outside of it for easy access to the multiple floors within the structure.

"Whoa…" Alex breathed. "Look how tall it is! That thing's _huge!_"

"Course it is, Tinhead!" Issun piped up. "It's gotta get the wind all the way down the mountain to the village in order to work!"

"_Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working right this moment,"_ Amaterasu commented. And she was right: the large fan blades of the windmill were sitting idly, so only a small breeze could be felt in place of the heavy gusts that would otherwise have been produced by the mighty structure.

Not only that, but they could all see the dark, shadowy mist beginning to form around the uppermost parts of the windmill, lending something of a foreboding feel to the otherwise bright and sunny day around them.

"_It seems that we're just in time…the dark mist that once plagued Kusa Village hasn't had a chance to fully form yet,"_ Amaterasu remarked. _"We should get the windmill moving first, so as to clear it out, and then we can deal with Crimson Helm."_

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," Alex said, tromping off towards the structure with Oki following close behind.

After a short hike to reach the base of the windmill, all they had to do was hop a short railing that lined the edge of a large balcony, and they were inside the confines of the windmill. Going over to the outermost edge and looking over, Alex got an absolutely _fantastic_ view of Kusa Village far below and Taka Pass stretching out beyond it. Unfortunately, he couldn't enjoy it for long, because he was quickly called over by the others, who had found the door that led into the structure itself.

Opening the door and going inside, the first thing they saw was, unmistakably, a blue demon scroll hovering right in the center of the otherwise bare room. Several lone candles provided light, but all they really did was illuminate the sinister piece of paper in an eerie manner.

"Geez," Issun muttered. "Crimson Something-or-Other really didn't waste any time getting these other demons in here, huh? Ah well, the four of us can handle it, right guys?"

Alex, Oki, and Amaterasu all nodded, drawing their weapons and lunging towards the demon scroll, triggering the fight with all three of them included in it.

A dark nimbus of energy appeared in the center of the ring, and Alex saw what looked like another Bud Ogre come out of it. But once it stopped spinning around, he saw that it was actually something different, despite being of similar shape and size to the bulbous demons he had fought in the Tsuta Ruins.

This particular demon seemed to consist almost entirely of what he recognized as some kind of Japanese tea kettle, with what looked like a sake flask tied to its side, within easy reach of the bright red monkey head that served as its face. Four muscular limbs of a sickly yellow color protruded from the kettle, each one sporting nasty claws that it dragged across the ground as it pawed at it like an angry bull and snarled at them all.

"_Just as I thought: Chimeras!"_ Amaterasu spat out angrily. _"These ones use scalding hot water in their attacks, so avoid getting hit!"_

"Isn't that the general idea _already? !"_ Alex shouted at her, dodging to the side as the thing lunged at him and taking a quick swing at it, his sword glancing off the metallic body with a spray of sparks.

"Yeah, only it's more important this time! There's a difference, believe me!" Issun shouted back, holding on as Ammy clubbed at its head with her reflector, the demon proving just as surprisingly fast as its Bud Ogre Cousin by jumping away from her and pulling into its spinning ball attack. This time, however, the lid on its back rattled unsettlingly, and the four companions suddenly found themselves assailed by a torrent of scalding hot water as it raced towards them.

Oki dexterously rolled out of the way while Amaterasu quickly leapt to the side. Alex, standing further away and believing himself to be safe, was caught off guard when the water suddenly splashed towards him, and pure subconscious reflex saved him from catching a face-full of it by bringing his arm up and around to shield his unprotected eyes.

Searing hot water splashed over his arm, some of it spilling over his shoulder and soaking into his cloak, but the fabric was hardly his first concern. Cursing out loud, hopping about wildly, and shaking his arm off as though he had spilled coffee on himself, he grabbed part of his cloak that wasn't soaked through and set to wiping his arm off, watching as Oki and Amaterasu drew the thing's attention away. The Oina Warrior had already transformed and was hitting the demon with lightning fast hit-and-run attacks while Amaterasu readied one of her rosaries and began nailing it from afar.

Eventually, their persistent attacks paid off, and the stunned demon collapsed to the ground. Oki quickly moved in for a finishing strike, but found his efforts rebuffed by the demon's iron hard body. Amaterasu quickly filled in for him, however, whipping her tail around and striking at the demon with multiple power slashes.

Wounded, but not yet out, the demon stood back up and snarled at them again, preparing to launch another attack.

"_SHIN SUTORAIKI!"_

A silver colored blur suddenly shot past the demon's general vicinity, and before the other three companions even realized what had happened, he was on the other side of the room, in a kneeling position with his sword held perfectly straight off to the side.

The demon let off a strangled growl, its limbs suddenly losing strength and slipping out from underneath it as the demon collapsed to the ground, its tea kettle body having been rent in half and spilling hot water across the ground in place of blood.

The barrier around them dissipated immediately afterwards, and left Alex standing there examining his blade again, focusing on the spider symbol that had lost its glow again.

"_Nicely done,"_ Amaterasu complimented him, going past him to the doors on the far side of the room. _"Now come, the way to the top is though here."_

Peeling his eyes away from the blade and sharing a quick glance with Oki, Alex filed his continuing concerns over the sword away and followed her through, stopping when she did…right on the edge of a _huge_ chasm that seemed to take up the entire length of the wooden tower they were in.

Without a word, the white wolf simply stepped over the edge and vanished into the shadows below, drawing a surprised outburst from Alex. Wolf-Oki, going up next to him, appeared relatively unconcerned, which only served to surprise the young man even more.

Suddenly, from far below, they heard a loud _fwoom_, followed by a _clacka-clacka-clacka_ as Amaterasu, riding a giant wooden platform adorned with various odd symbols, sudden shot back up the chasm and stopped right in front of them with a heavy _boom!_

"Going up!" Issun quipped, chortling loudly at his own little joke, and Alex found himself sorely tempted to give the little bug-man a good flick.

Restraining himself, Alex instead thought, _"An elevator? What the hell's an elevator of all things doing in this crazy, freaked-out version of ancient Japan?"_

Stepping onto the platform with Oki, Alex suddenly realized something.

"_Wait…I just answered my own damn question…"_

Shaking his head, he went up to Amaterasu and asked, "So…how do you work this thing?"

"_Oh, it's very simple, actually. All I need to do is this…"_ she answered, and raising her tail again, drew a large circle around the central dot in the middle of all the designs, followed by a diagonal line from the center of it leading outwards. In the brief glance that he had before the design disappeared, he noticed that it somewhat resembled a large cherry.

What came out of it was different than what he thought, though. Instead of a giant fruit, a brightly colored, paper-wrapped ball with what appeared to be a lit fuse suddenly appeared over the central dot design.

"Wait…one of your 'divine powers' is to summon explosives?" he asked, giving her a perplexed look.

"_It is actually a cherry bomb firework…but, essentially, yes."_

"And you guys have a Brush God dedicated to these…'fireworks', from what I gather?"

"_Yes. Why do you ask?"_

"Well, it's just…doesn't it seem a little…unnecessary, to have a whole god just for _fireworks_?"

She smiled a knowing smile, taking it a little better than he actually thought she would, and said, _"To some, perhaps. But I can assure you, Bakugami, the God of Explosive Force, has just as much of a place as the rest of us do. Being a Brush God does not always entail control of JUST the elements, and he is a prime example of that."_

She turned to look at the lit cherry bomb again, its fuse growing short, and Alex suddenly saw the central dot just reach out and _eat_ the cherry bomb, right before a muffled _BOOM_ shook the platform they were on and launched it into the air at a frighteningly rapid pace.

As they ascended, Alex held his arm as another sting went up it from the nasty burn he had from the scalding water, and cursed as he grabbed his cloak and pulled over his shoulders so as to get a better grip on it, using more of the un-soaked fabric to try and get the remaining liquid off of his armor.

As he did this, the chasm they were in grew darker as they ascended…and something happened that he didn't notice right away.

Slamming into place at the top floor, the elevator finally stopped, and the group could clearly see the dark mist outside the door in front of them.

"Top floor, Windmill Estates!" Issun crowed. "Thank you for riding…"

Turning to look at Alex, he suddenly trailed off and frowned in confusion.

"Hey, Tinhead! Where'd you go?" he called out.

"What're you talking about? I'm right here!" Alex answered.

"_Huh?"_ Issun said, looking right at him, but apparently not seeing him for some odd reason. Amaterasu and Oki turned to look themselves, and immediately became just as confused as Issun was, looking at Alex but appearing as though they were unable to focus _on _him.

"I can _see_ something there, but…is that you, Tinhead? You look all…dark!" Issun stated.

"What're you...saying…" Alex began, but trailed off himself when he looked down, past the section of cloak that was in his hand.

What he saw was…interesting to say the least. The trailing edge of his black cloak, what Aku-Hametsu had called the "Spidersilk Cloak", appeared to have _merged _flawlessly with the shadows of the room around them and across the floor of the wooden platform they were standing on. Because of this, and the fact that the cloak was currently settled over his shoulders at the moment, his normally bright armor and somewhat pale skin had gone just as dark as the shadows around him…rendering him _near-invisible._

"_Oh…"_ he thought, after a few seconds of staring. _"…so THAT'S what it does."_

After a few more seconds, he shrugged the cloak off his shoulders, and the shadows immediately retreated, shifting him back to his normal light level.

"_It appears that we've finally found out what Alex's acquisition from the Spider Queen does,"_ Amaterasu stated, giving the cloak a few experimental sniffs. _"A useful effect, if I do say so myself…handy for avoiding certain conflicts."_

"_I guess that's what Aku-Hametsu meant by 'discretion serving as the better part of valor'," _he thought. _"Still, stealth really doesn't seem like my thing, considering that I'm wearing heavy metal plate armor and carrying a GLOWING sword of all things!"_

"Let's keep moving," Oki stated after a moment, and the group followed him out onto another balcony. This one, however, didn't have as nearly a good view as the other one did, primarily due to the fact that it was surrounded by a black mist that began to swirl around them and made it nearly impossible to see where they were going.

"Watch your step, guys!" Issun said. "It's easy to lose your footing in all this darkness, and I don't feel like taking another nosedive off a cliff, _ok Ammy? !_" he yelled, directing the last few words towards the white wolf, who was pushing ahead of the others and running up the walkways to the topmost part of the windmill.

Alex and Oki slowly made their way up behind her, and barring a few stubbed toes and clumsy trip-ups, they managed to make it up to the main balcony where she was waiting for them.

"Ok, Ammy! Just like last time!" Issun said, once they had all gathered. "Start that wind a-flowing!"

Alex caught sight of the wolf's darkened form beginning her graceful dance of ink again, like he had seen down in Kusa Village, and before long, he could feel a strong breeze beginning to pick up.

"And a-one! And a-two! And a-THREE!" Issun cheered.

On the last count, a huge gust of wind hit all four of them, and just like that, the dark cloud around the windmill dissipated, Ammy's wind clearing it away and allowing the sun to shine forth again.

"_Not bad…"_ Alex thought, feeling somewhat refreshed as the cool wind began to blow on its own. Hearing a creak and groan behind him, he turned around and saw the windmill fan slowly shift, shaking dust and other debris off of it as it began to rotate again.

Immediately, the soft breeze doubled in effect to a strong wind, causing his cloak to start billowing out behind him as Ammy let off a happy bark.

"Alright! Kusa Village is back in- ACK!" Issun yelled in a cheer-turned-scream, when a particularly strong gust nearly blew him away.

At that moment, Alex would have laughed out loud…if the sky hadn't suddenly turned dark, and a shaft of light hadn't suddenly descended upon them.

"Wha…?" he muttered, walking up next to Amaterasu. "What's going on, Ammy?"

She didn't answer him. Her attention appeared to be fully fixated on the darkened sky above, her nose pointed almost straight up as her eyes peered searchingly into what had quickly turned from midday into pitch-black night.

"By the gods…" he heard Oki whisper from behind them. "What is this?"

Suddenly, there was a quiet _fwish..._and Alex saw a multitude of stars suddenly blink into existence above them, arranged into a seemingly random pattern.

"_Stars?"_ he thought, utterly confused. _"But it's midday! How can there be stars at mid-"_

"_Alex…" _Amaterasu's thoughts interrupted his. _"I would advise you to prepare yourself."_

"Huh? Why?"

"_You are about to meet another Brush God."_

(_Okami OST – Gaze Up at the Sky_)

Her frank answer caught him slightly off guard, and he could only watch as she brought her tail up and, ever so gently, began to tap the inked end of it against whatever surface she was using to draw, placing dot after dot in the sky as she filled in the apparent blanks.

Amaterasu withdrew her tail, and Alex saw the ink dots change into stars as well, barely making out some kind of elegant design that had appeared over them, in the shape of what looked like…a horse?

Suddenly, a blast of light and wind emanated from the constellation, startling Alex and forcing him back a few steps as his eyes suddenly dried out and forced him to shield his face. As he did, he heard the sound of galloping hooves and a loud, echoing whinny, and after blinking several times to remoisten his eyes, lowered his arm to see what had happened.

The sight that met his eyes astounded him.

The environment that had once been the topmost part of the Kusa Village Windmill was now gone, replaced by a setting that made him feel like he had fallen into some kind of old Japanese ink brush painting. Even the wooden balcony beneath him seemed to have disappeared, and it looked as though he were simply standing on a floor of invisible force.

Then his eyes settled on the being in front of him.

At first glance, it was a white horse, but closer inspection revealed that it looked _remarkably_ similar to Amaterasu: Its coat was a stark white, with intricate red lines trailing from its head and all the way down its body. Tufts of its coat along its legs looked to be styled in the shape of swirling cloud, and its long tail had the appearance of a calligraphy brush, the tip of it blackened from what could only be ink as well. On its back appeared to be some kind of large oriental fan, mounted on a leather saddle that seemed to hold its position of its own accord.

(_Okami OST - Conversing with a God_)

Amaterasu stepped forward, bowing low and saying, _"Kazegami, God of the Wind."_

The horse Brush God bowed its head to her, speaking in a deep male voice, _"Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, Origin of All that is Good, and Mother to us All. It is good to see you again, my friend."_

"_You as well…but why are you here, Kaze? Do the others have something to tell me?"_

"_The others only wish to express their concern. Your mission is starting to take longer than originally expected."_

Alex heard her audibly sigh, as if she were expecting this.

"_I know…but complications have arisen," _she responded.

"_Such as?"_ Kazegami asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"_It seems that the demons are making a return."_

The horse drew back a bit in surprise, snorting noisily as it shook its head and scattered its flowing mane around.

"_That is…a serious complication indeed! And you are certain of this?"_

"_Absolutely,"_ she replied without missing a beat. _"We are currently in the process of ridding the Gale Shrine of Crimson Helm once more. Something has brought the demon back, and we have only just begun to contain the corruption that he is spreading."_

"_Yes…I thought I noticed something when my windmill suddenly stopped turning. I thank you for restoring it, Mother Amaterasu. Hopefully the rest of the shrine proves just as easy for you to purge."_

"_Hopefully," _she agreed, nodding. _"But this whole thing worries me greatly."_

"_As it does for me as well," _Kazegami said. _"I must confer with the others on this when time allows. In the meantime, be careful Mother Amaterasu."_

Looking away from her, the horse's eyes settled on Alex, and the man suddenly found himself feeling rather nervous under the piercing gaze.

"…_You must be the mystery man that Mother Amaterasu saw in her vision. Alexander Grey, was it?"_

"Uh…yeah…" he replied slowly.

"_Know that you have the attention of the Brush Gods upon you, mortal. We will be keeping a _very_ close eye on you in the future."_

With that, the horse reared up and whinnied loudly, before thundering off into the distance with a tremendous blast of wind.

In an instant, the parchment setting around them disappeared, and they were back on top of the windmill.

Oki was the first to speak, approaching Amaterasu and saying, "Well, he certainly seemed…friendly."

"Yeesh…" Alex muttered to himself. "Now I'm in for it…bunch of crazy animals, souped-up on divine power, watching my every move…great, just great."

"_Easy now, you two,"_ Amaterasu said calmly. _"They may appear intimidating at first, but you will get used to them eventually, if you ever meet them in the future."_

"_I'm not sure if I even WANT to meet them, to be honest…" _Alex thought.

"Come, let's get moving," Oki said. "All that remains is Crimson Helm and we will be done with this place."

* * *

><p>Bringing the "elevator" back down, the four companions stepped off it and proceeded into the massive antechamber that Amaterasu had told them served as the central point of the Gale Shrine, where all of the other rooms could be accessed. From the looks of it, it seemed as though the ones who had built the shrine had hollowed out most, if not all, of the mountain. The room was incredibly wide and spacious, not to mention <em>dark<em>, with a large, L-shaped wooden walkway suspended over the width of a _huge_ gaping abyss below.

Gulping nervously as he looked down into said abyss, Alex thought, _"Geez…I can't even see what's at the bottom! Why did they make it so damn deep? !"_

Shaking his head, and hurrying to catch up with the others, Alex stepped onto the walkway with them, taking note of the miniature windmill fans that seemed to be set up on both ends.

"_That way leads to where the main entrance is,"_ Amaterasu said, indicating the path that the other end of the walkway led to. _"But where we want to go is over there, to the shrine itself,"_ she continued, pointing them in the direction of a path on the other side of the chamber. No wooden walkway led to it however, prompting a confused response from Alex.

"_Don't worry," _she said. _"It is a simple matter to get over there. All we need a good breeze."_

Lifting her tail, she swirled it through the air, a gust of wind coming out of nowhere and hitting the miniature windmill closest to them. With a suddenly rumble, the walkway beneath them began to shift and slowly turn, carrying them with it as it slowly aligned with the path towards the Gale Shrine.

"Get ready, Crimson Helm!" Issun taunted. "Cause we're comin' for ya!"

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, mostly just a setup chapter, but it'll get a lot better in the next one, cause the big, bad, ugly Crimson Helm is next!<strong>

**Alex: "What semi-lame excuse will the author come up with next chapter? Tune in next time to-"**

***Duct tapes OC's mouth shut* Unless you want all of your facial hair ripped out, keep quiet.**

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time.)**


	21. Where Fire Dwells

**Meh...a few days late, nothing too serious I guess. I should really just accept the fact, though, that my update schedule is pretty much going to be around every two weeks or so.**

**Ah well, enough of the technical stuff. Here's a bright and shiny new chapter for you!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20: Where Fire Dwells<strong>

Peering down the long and extremely large corridor ahead of them, Alex could see numerous wooden pillars lining the path ahead, each one bearing a small, unlit brazier…with the exception of one pillar that had fallen over against another on the opposite side of it.

"_Yeah…long, ominous corridor that just HAPPENS to lead straight to the Gale Shrine. Not suspicious at all…"_ he thought, following Wolf-Oki and Ammy as the two wolves paced ahead of him. His suspicions were only reinforced when all of the braziers on the pillars suddenly lit up of their own accord around them, casting a strong light throughout the hallway, but causing the nearby shadows to flicker unsettlingly as they headed deeper into the mountain.

Reaching the fallen pillar, the group could see that, up ahead, the path they were on led straight into a sharp vertical rise. What looked like the remnants of some kind of ladder lay scattered about at the foot of the rise, possibly what the previous members of the Satomi House had used to get to the Gale Shrine, but it had long since outlived its usefulness, if the dusty, termite-hole ridden sticks were any indication of it.

"Ok…so how do we get up that?" Alex asked.

"_Simple…we climb, and cross over,"_ Amaterasu stated simply, and without waiting for a reply, leapt onto the fallen pillar before them and ran up with precise balance, gesturing for her two companions to follow with a flick of her tail.

Wolf-Oki clambered up first, followed closely by Alex, and the two men caught up to Amaterasu on the very uppermost tip of the fallen pillar, the wood groaning beneath their combined weight, but otherwise holding. Looking from them to what Alex realized was another one of the Konohana Tree's blossoms, Amaterasu wordlessly attached a vine from herself to it and shot across, landing on a wooden crossbeam between two of the pillars.

"You call that simple? !" Alex complained, yelling across the way so she could hear him. "You do realize that if I screw up, I could break my neck, right? ! Look at that fall!"

"_Don't worry, Alex. If you fall, I'll be right there to catch you."_

A few minutes ago, Alex would have doubted that statement, but Ammy's surprising rescue of him falling had done wonders to change his mind. Having little choice but to take her word for it, he pulled out Sakuya's Blossom with a resigned sigh and aimed it at the flower across the way. Wolf-Oki bit onto his cloak right as the vine attached, and was promptly yanked along for the ride as the two of them shot over the gap and onto the wooden crossbeam.

Landing ungracefully, Alex stumbled forward and nearly went over the edge, but Wolf-Oki's weight on the edge of his cloak acted as a counterbalance, the Oina Warrior digging his paws into the wood and yanking backwards to keep the man from falling. Once everyone had their balance back, the companions then looked to the next couple of gaps that needed to be crossed.

All that Alex could see were four elegant tapestries, each one depicting a section of a larger picture of Kazegami. Like the art he had seen of Amaterasu on Oki's pamphlet, they had been done with tremendous skill from the artist…but while they were certainly nice to look at, Alex couldn't see any other way across the gaps ahead. No Konohana Blossoms, no bridges…nothing.

"Wait…" he mused, suddenly starting to figure it out. "Don't tell me…"

Without waiting for him to finish, Amaterasu drew a swirl of ink through the air, summoning another gust of wind that pushed the tapestries up horizontally and formed a rather impromptu series of platforms across.

"No. No way!" Alex suddenly said, holding his hands up as he backed up a step.

"Aw, c'mon Tinhead!" Issun groaned. "It's perfectly safe, believe me!"

Alex shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms. "I can _sort of_ understand grappling across large gaps with Sakuya's Blossom, and I can _sort of_ understand the whole system of using all that ki crap, but there's no way a bunch of painted cloth is going to hold my weight! No chance in hell!"

Ammy, Oki, and Issun all exchanged glances.

"Well…alright, Tinhead. Guess you can stay here then," Issun remarked. "We'll see if there's another way for you to cross."

"Fine," Alex said, nodding. He didn't like making them do extra work on his behalf, but he drew the line at things that were clearly suicidal…or, at the very least, would make him break both of his le-

"_NOW!"_

He heard Issun's shout, right before something heavy collided right with the back of his legs, causing them to buckle as he stumbled backwards…right onto Ammy's white-furred back.

"ACK! What the hell…!" he shouted, right before the wolf-goddess took off at full-pelt, drawing a startled scream from him as he grabbed ahold of her neck to keep his balance. Leaping off the side of the crossbeam, Amaterasu raced across the tapestries with Wolf-Oki in hot pursuit, Alex's horrified screams devolving into a loud stream of angry curses as he realized what had happened.

It wasn't until they were across the gap and on ground floor again that she finally gave him the chance to get off, the young man grumbling angrily as he adjusted his helmet and got back to his feet.

"That…was a dirty…rotten…_trick,_" he growled, shooting daggers at the two wolves in front of him with his absolutely _furious_ scowl.

"Heh heh…yeah, but it worked, right?" Issun remarked, a big grin across his face.

Alex reached over and, before Issun could react, flicked the little bug-man off of Ammy's head, the green ball of light flying through the air and hitting the wall with a quiet _piff._

"Try that again, and you're getting a first-hand look at the underside of my boot!" Alex yelled after him, the poncle getting up and hopping about angrily as his aura turned a bright red and steam shot off of him.

"OOOOOOHHHH, WHY I OUGHTTA…!" Issun yelled, waving his tiny fists around before stopping and taking several deep breaths in a largely unsuccessful attempt to calm himself down.

Gathering up Issun before he exploded, Ammy simply gestured for Alex and Oki to follow, passing through a large set of double-doors and into a tighter, more extravagant hallway. Here, the walls were made of wood instead of stone, and the lanterns that lined its entire length cast a warm golden glow throughout it…deceptively cozy, considering that they were nearing Crimson Helm's lair.

Moving down the hall, the group soon encountered their next obstacle: odd looking devices that formed a waist-high barrier across the floor in front of them, spewing large columns of fire up into the air and otherwise blocking the way forward.

Again, Ammy proved the usefulness of her divine powers, summoning yet another gust of wind that immediately snuffed out the columns of fire. Leaping over it with a single bound, she looked back to see Wolf-Oki copying her movement, while Alex mantled over it…a fraction of a second before the fire started back up, singing the edge of his cloak and causing him to let off a startled yelp.

After a frantic moment spent stomping on the smoking material to smother it, Alex let off a nervous chuckle that sounded more forced than anything else, before the party continued forward to another set of double doors.

Opening as they approached, the doors revealed a massive, darkened chamber beyond, not unlike the chamber Alex had gone through before he had encountered the Spider Queen. Only this time, instead of a feeling of fear and dread, Alex sensed an incredibly powerful presence, something so strong, furious, and intimidating that it seemed to press down on him like an incredible weight.

Not only that, but it was _hot_. Alex could feel sweat beading on his forehead as the heat from within the darkened chamber poured through the open door, prompting him to loosen the collar of his cloak as his breathing grew heavier to allow for additional perspiration. Wolf-Oki seemed to be affected in a similar way, the Oina Warrior's tongue hanging out of his mouth as he began panting and licking his lips, clearly thinking about taking a drink of water. Ammy, however, seemed to not be affected by the sudden change in temperature, her gaze set straight ahead into the room beyond.

"Whew!" Issun muttered, taking his beetle-shell helmet off and wiping his brow. "He's in here, alright! Only Crimson Helm could put off that much heat!"

"Then we have no time to waste," Wolf-Oki stated, swallowing dryly. "Let us be done with this demon once and for all!"

Going in first, the Oina Warrior was followed closely by the others, and none of them missed the doors slowly closing behind them as they went in. Stepping onto a long path, lined by more of the Satomi House's architecture and multiple candle stands, the group slowly made their way towards the center of the massive chamber that lay beyond.

Taking note of the man's heavy breathing, Amaterasu fell in beside Alex and asked him, _"Are you feeling alright?"_

"Yeah…" he muttered. "I'm sweating like a pig, though. This isn't ordinary heat…it's like an oven in here!"

"_You feel it too, then? The imposing presence, like something unseen is here, watching our every move?"_

Alex nodded, casting a glance around the large chamber as they drew closer to the center. The darkness still pervaded the room, the source of the heat still hidden from them.

"If he's here…then what can we expect from him?" he finally managed to ask.

"_Nothing short of tremendous, unbridled power,"_ she answered. _"Where the Spider Queen used fear to her advantage, Crimson Helm is like an uncontrolled wildfire, burning and consuming everything in his path…not unlike his master, Orochi."_

"Orochi…?" Alex mused, remembering the image the spirit globe had shown him of the mighty demon. "Orochi commanded Crimson Helm?"

"_Well, not in the true sense of the word. I merely referred to Orochi being Crimson Helm's master because, as legend has it, Crimson Helm was born from a pool of the Demon Master's blood. Had you been there during my first journey through Nippon, you would have noticed the similarity between the two demons' appearances immediately."_

"So, Crimson Helm is essentially the spitting image of Orochi?"

"_Orochi's fire head, to be specific."_

"_Right…because Orochi is eight-headed,"_ Alex thought. "But if there's a fire head, then does that mean…?"

"_Correct," _Ammy said, finishing his train of thought for him. _"Orochi's other heads each command an element of their own. It is this versatility that made the demon so very dangerous to fight all those years ago, for anyone fighting him could not be sure what kind of attack he would try next."_

"Yeesh…"

"'Yeesh' is right, Tinhead!" Issun said. "You wouldn't _believe_ how much of a pain it was for me and Ammy to take down that eight-headed freak, with the sake and Susano and…!"

At that moment, Issun was interrupted by the sound of fire flaring up, as braziers mounted on more wooden pillars suddenly lit on their own. Numbering eight in total, the pillars and braziers encircled the entire area that consisted of a massive stone floor, carved with numerous designs of an unknown meaning. Up ahead, however, was the true eye-catching piece of the chamber: a large pagoda-style shrine bearing the symbol of the Satomi House upon it. Within its confines lay a small pedestal that looked like it once held something, but was now bare and unoccupied, leaving Alex to ponder what object of importance had rested there.

However, he didn't have much time to think on it, when the eight flames suddenly flew out of their braziers and began circling about in the air above them.

"Uh…why don't you tell me that story later, Issun?" Alex muttered, slowly reaching above his back towards Aku-Hametsu's hilt.

Coalescing together, the eight flames turned into one giant fireball, radiating so much heat that the companions were forced back several steps. Rising into the air a few more feet, the fireball suddenly reversed direction and slammed into the ground, causing the chamber to shake violently as smoke and dust blocked out their vision.

The sound of crackling energy filled the air, and Alex snuck a backwards glance as yet another demonic barrier formed behind them, stretching between the two pillars and spreading out to the others until the entirety of the central area was sealed, trapping them in the newly formed "arena". Looking back to the cloud of smoke and dust, Alex caught sight of an enormous shadow within it, shaped suspiciously like a four-legged creature with two burly arms that held glaives as big as a whole person.

Crimson Helm.

(_Okami OST – Crimson Helm, Begone!_)

With a bellowing roar, the demon's silhouette raised its glaives, and the smoke around it immediately blasted away, clearing the air and revealing the armored skeletal abomination in all of its fiery glory. Snorting loudly as its heavy breathing stirred up the dust on its massive helmet, the demon's hoof pawed at the ground anxiously, in clear anticipation of the fight that was finally at hand.

With a series of _schwings_, Alex, Wolf-Oki, Amaterasu, and Issun all drew their weapons and struck their respective fighting stances, each one of them prepared to face down with the monster that had stolen the Gale Shrine from its rightful owners.

"Hah! Mean-looking as always, eh bucko?" Issun taunted, waving Denkomaru around to punctuate his sentence. "Me and Ammy clobbered you once before without a scratch, and now we've got two more guys with us! Face it, Tall, Big, and Ugly…you ain't got no chance!"

In return, Crimson Helm banged its glaives together, signaling the start of the battle with a heavy, reverberating _gong!_

"_Ok, ok, here we go now!"_ Alex thought, feeling his adrenaline picking up as he slipped his faceplate into position and clenched the hilt of his sword anxiously.

But in preparing himself for what was sure to be an aggressive charge from the giant demon, he suddenly found himself surprised when a glowing ball of colored light, similar to the spirit globe he carried, appeared in front of him, hovering in midair before him before slowly going into an orbiting pattern around him.

"Wha…?"

"Hey! Looks like those Satomi Power Orbs are back!" Issun stated in a surprised tone. And true enough, a glowing ball of light, each one a different color, had appeared around each of the four companions. Totaling four in number, the Power Orbs were all orbiting around them as if they were satellites orbiting a planet.

"But…wait! What do these things do exactly? !" Alex yelled, right as Crimson Helm charged for their group, forcing them all to scatter like cockroaches in a lit room.

"FREE HIT!" Issun screamed, holding on for dear life as Ammy raced around at her prodigious top speed, coming up to Crimson Helm's side and setting to bashing away at its armor with strikes from her reflector. Wolf-Oki, being the next to react, did the same with his broadsword on the demon's opposite side, the two wolves flanking Crimson Helm and scoring numerous hits. However, both of them were having difficulty finding a weak point in the armor, a task made only harder by Crimson Helm's evasiveness and the tremendous waves of heat that were pouring off its body.

Alex, not seeing many other options, readied Aku-Hametsu and charged straight in, skipping ungracefully off to the side as the demon threw a lopsided attack at him. Due to the two wolves pounding it from both sides, Crimson Helm was unable to bring its full strength to bear on the young man, giving Alex ample opportunity to land some solid hits of his own. Moonsteel connected with demonic steel as Alex and the demon traded hits, each of Aku-Hametsu's strikes causing deeps scores to appear in Crimson Helm's armor while the demon's glaives were either deflected or missed their mark entirely as Alex made himself as difficult to hit as possible.

But just like last time, as Amaterasu noticed, their attacks were having little to no effect; the demon was shrugging off their strikes like they were simply beating it with wooden sticks. To do some _real_ damage, they had to get its armor off first, and to do _that_, they had to find a weak spot.

Not an easy thing to do by any means…especially when your target begins to glow a bright orange-red from the fiery power within it.

With another bellowing roar, an aura of pure fire encircled Crimson Helm's body, as the demon called upon its innate power in preparation to blast its opponents away. The temperature in the room suddenly increased by several degrees more, and in the back of his mind, Alex realized that they were in BIG trouble now.

Raising both of its swords into downward stabbing positions, Crimson Helm slammed both weapons point-first into the stone ground on both sides of it, immediately channeling its power through the weapons and causing twin geysers of fire to erupt from the ground around them, forcing Amaterasu and Wolf-Oki to fall back. Immediately retracting the blades, Crimson Helm channeled its power again, this time causing the blades to light on fire as its intimidating gaze turned upon Alex.

"_Uh-oh…"_

Crossing the blades and swinging them outward in a widely arcing dual slash, Crimson Helm launched a wave of raging flames towards Alex, the young man unable to do anything but raise his arms to shield his face.

He felt the force of the wave hit him, felt its heat surround him, and at that moment, he thought it was all over…right up until he heard the sound of shattering glass.

Looking out from behind his arms, Alex caught sight of the Satomi Power Orb that had been circling him, glowing strongly against the flames that were raging about him at that moment.

The instant the flames cleared, the orb's light faded, and it shattered into dust…the pieces falling to the ground in front of him.

"_Oh…right…free hit, and…all that…"_ he thought, his brain slowly catching up to the fact that he was still miraculously alive.

"Don't just stand around! Move, Alex!" Wolf-Oki called out, rushing the demon again in an attempt to draw it away from the still slightly dumbfounded Alex. Joined by Amaterasu, the two wolves set to bashing away at Crimson Helm's armor again, dexterously weaving in and out of the demon's long reach as they landed quick strikes in between.

Watching them, Alex found the incredible display to be something more akin to a dance than actual combat: Oki's brute strength and savage ferocity complimented Amaterasu's speed and natural grace wonderfully, their movements making it appear as though they had done this a hundred times before. They appeared to be nigh-unhittable, even going so far as to leap into the air and gracefully twist around to avoid another double strike from Crimson Helm, Amaterasu back-flipping through the narrow space between the two blades while Wolf-Oki flung himself up and over the highest one, scoring a quick strike across the demon's helmet with the broadsword that was still clenched in his powerful jaws.

Finally regaining his senses after witnessing the stunning display, Alex raised Aku-Hametsu back up and charged in, taking it a bit more defensively as his only real protection was gone now. The two wolves took note of his presence and immediately compensated for him, taking up flanking positions on both sides of him as the trio charged in, Issun cheering them on from atop Ammy's head.

"Alright! All together now!" he yelled, as the three companions charged. _"LEFT!"_

Amaterasu swung in first, her reflector colliding with the incoming blade to their left and stopping it dead, giving Alex a chance to lunge forward and slice open a mean-looking gouge in the demon's chest plate.

"_RIGHT!"_

Spinning around Wolf-Oki with his black cloak trailing behind him, Alex intercepted the strike from the sword to their right, allowing Wolf-Oki to leap up and slam his sword down in a crushing blow against the length of the demon's dragon-like helmet. Crimson Helm roared in anger over having both of its weapons held back, but even that mighty sound couldn't drown out the unsettling rattle of loosening armor plates.

They had found their weak point.

"He's hurting! Let's get 'im! _LEFT AGAIN!"_

Oki hit the ground and, practically reading Amaterasu's thoughts, slid into position to intercept another strike from the glaive to their left, as the white wolf leapt up and over Wolf-Oki to get out of his way. A brief flash filled the air, and out of the corner of his eye, Alex spotted a massive sword, its bright red blade divided into seven parts, upon the wolf goddess' back. Raised into what appeared to be a stabbing position of sorts, the sword began glowing with energy as she began to charge it for a devastating strike.

Getting inside Crimson Helm's reach and charging right for its exposed chest, Amaterasu unleashed the charging energy in her weapon…and with a tremendous '_CRACK!'_, drove it up to the hilt into the demon's chest, right where the fiery core was located in its ribcage.

The force of a divine weapon hitting it right where it hurt _definitely_ got Crimson Helm's attention, and a pained, unearthly shriek filled the air as Alex and Oki felt the force behind the glaives they were holding back almost immediately weaken. But Amaterasu wasn't _nearly_ finished yet. Summoning her reflector back and leaving the sword embedded in the demon's chest, the white wolf leaped high into the air and landed a vicious hammering blow dead-center on its helmet.

A loud _BONG_ reverberated through the cavern, and Crimson Helm's armor suddenly just slid off, collapsing around it in a messy, disorganized heap. The only piece that didn't fall off was the centermost piece of the chest armor, held in place by Amaterasu's glaive that had pierced the sternum of the demon's ribcage all the way through to the ball of fire that the bones shielded.

"Alright! _STRAIGHT AHEAD!"_

A massive gust of wind tore through the cavern as the words left the poncle's mouth, blowing out the flames that had begun to spread across the skeleton before they became dangerous. And with its last line of defense removed, the very stunned Crimson Helm was fully exposed to the fury of the three companions, all of them bashing away at the demonic abomination. Amaterasu's reflector scorched and cracked the bones where it hit, while Wolf-Oki's and Alex's swords chopped and gouged at them. Together, the three of them were doing some real damage, as pieces of Crimson Helm's skeleton began to crack and break apart under the assault.

The whole time, Alex could hardly believe it. They were actually _winning _against this thing, this thing that felt neither pain nor fear.

Recovering quickly, despite the massive pounding it had taken, Crimson Helm's skeleton barely managed to raise its swords back up and swung around wildly with them. Alex and Amaterasu backed away quickly, but Wolf-Oki was a tad slow on the uptake, and one of the wild swings nailed him on his way out, causing light to flash around his body as his protective Satomi Power Orb was destroyed.

Judging from Wolf-Oki's sudden curse, Alex figured that he must have been berating himself for allowing that kind of mistake to happen…not that it really mattered, considering that Crimson Helm was all but beaten now.

Appearing much less intimidating than before, but still possessing much of its power, the severely thrashed demon backed away from them, holding its weapons up in a defensive stance.

"He's backing off!" Alex shouted, still on an adrenaline high from his battle rush. "Come on! Let's get him!"

Charging forward towards the demon, Alex raised up Aku-Hametsu, expecting Oki and Amaterasu to be right there beside him as he ran.

It took him a moment to realize that they weren't.

"_No, Alex, WAIT!"_ he heard Amaterasu shout.

"_Stop, you fool!" _another voice shouted in his mind…one he recognized all too well.

To his credit, he _did_ manage to stop quickly…but the damage had already been done.

Because, as it turned out, he was just close enough for the demon to unleash its trap.

Letting off another deafening roar, Crimson Helm reared up on its hind legs in front of him, raising its blades and crossing them over its head. In response, Alex suddenly felt the cavern begin to shake, and the sound of cracking stone suddenly reached his ears.

Behind Crimson Helm, the stone floor began to crack apart, and through the opening, dark, violet colored energy began to pour out. Spreading faster than he could react, Alex could only spin around nervously as the cracks suddenly lanced out and around him and the demon, completely surrounding them in a circle of dark energy.

"_ALEX!"_ he heard Amaterasu shriek.

A tremendous blast of heat suddenly hit him, forcing him to shield his eyes as he staggered back and tripped, falling onto his side. Quickly propping himself up on an elbow, he looked back to Crimson Helm…

…just in time to see eight massive, fiery, dragon-like heads upon long, serpentine necks push out of the floor within the affected area. Each one wore a large metal kabuto helmet, bearing a variety of symbols that he couldn't make out from the wavering effect of all the heat around him.

And each one was staring straight at him.

There wasn't a single doubt in his mind. It was Orochi.

(_Okami OST – Blood Pact_)

Even as Crimson Helm began to back away, the eight massive heads slowly lowered towards him, and Alex found himself unable to move, locked in the gaze of the demon's eyes. The largest of the heads, which he could only guess was the fire head, came right down in front of him, its nose only inches from his face as it stared him dead in the eye, breathing searing hot blasts of air at him and forcing him to cover his face again.

The other heads slowly circled around him, completely surrounding him and cutting off any hope of escape. The intense heat pouring from all of them was almost unbearable, and Alex couldn't even bring himself to lift Aku-Hametsu in whatever defense he could possible muster.

He could hear shouting in the distance…it sounded vaguely like Oki…but whatever the Oina Warrior was saying was lost within the intense rumble of Orochi's impossibly strong growl, sounding like two giant boulders being ground together. It continued for at least a full minute, reverberating through the young man in a way that was more felt than heard.

"_So…the whispers in the shadows were true…"_ A voice, darker and more sinister than anything he had ever heard before echoed in his head, magnified eight times over by a chorus of other voices speaking at the same time…each one different, and yet, each one similar.

"_Sword-Wielder…"_ the other voices chanted in the background.

"_You have returned, from the depths of history…"_

"_Sword-Wielder…"_

"_A history that I destroyed a hundred years ago!"_

"_Sword-Wielder…"_

"_Do you walk the same path as those before you…or does something else drive you?"_

"_Sword-Wielder…"_

"_Tell me, human…is it fear, or courage that compels you?"_

Alex couldn't answer. He was absolutely paralyzed with fear…the power of the demon before him was so intense…so crushing…

"_ANSWER ME, MORTAL!"_ the voice roared, suddenly followed by a searing, white-hot pain in his mind, so intense that he cried out in pain, clutching at the sides of his head as he fell back and writhed about in agony.

"_Do you think to challenge me, Sword-Wielder, as your predecessors have before you? !"_

The pain surged through his head again, triggering another pained spasm as the demon's power began to tear at his mind.

"_Do you think that you actually stand a chance against me? ! Against US? !"_

His helmet clattered to the ground, the young man having torn it off so as to clutch at his head better as the demon continued to ravage his mind.

"_FOOL! I destroyed the Takeda Clan over a century ago, and I shall do the same to YOU!"_

Unable to stand it anymore, Alex cried out in sheer desperation, "Someone…HELP ME!"

The moment the words left his mouth, something deep within the recesses of his mind surged forth.

"_AWAY FROM HIM, DEMON!"_ Aku-Hametsu's voice suddenly shouted, its presence slamming against that of Orochi's with amazing force and loosening the pressure on Alex's mind instantaneously.

Orochi's fiery heads suddenly recoiled, the demon letting out an angry hiss at the surprise intrusion. _"WHAT! Who dares…!"_

What could only be described as realization suddenly passed over the demon's features.

"_So you are here as well…"_ the demon's voiced said lowly, lowering its gaze to Alex again. _"The last remnant of the Takeda Clan…returned from history as well. You have chosen this whelp as your new vessel, then?"_

"_Do not speak of him in such lowly terms, demon! He will be the next Samurai of the Moon, and you will afford him the respect such a title deserves!"_

The heads all leaned back at once, their open maws pointed towards the cavern ceiling as the demon began laughing.

"_HIM? You place your faith in this mortal, who has not even realized his full potential yet? Your mind grows weak with your age, spirit!"_

"_We will see who is laughing when the edge of Aku-Hametsu finds and consumes your soul!"_

The heads stopped laughing, and eight pairs of eyes refocused on a hopelessly confused Alex.

"_Is that a challenge, spirit?"_

"_It is a promise, demon."_

"_I see…very well, then. If you think that this mere human can stand against the forces of evil that we possess, then train your vessel while I await you in my lair! Come to me then, spirit, and we will see who has the last laugh!"_

Orochi's heads drew back, and Alex could feel the heat intensifying as the fiery specter of the largest head began to draw in a deep breath.

"_But first…a parting gift!" _the demon laughed evilly, Alex spotting a nimbus of building energy within its mouth, right before it spat out a massive fireball that was aimed right for him.

Shielding himself for a third time, Alex turned away from the attack...

…right before a flash of white and red landed over him, intercepting the attack as a massive inferno erupted around them.

Looking up, Alex found himself once again in the position that he had been in during his battle with the Spider Queen, Amaterasu standing over him in a protective stance, using her body as a shield with which to protect him, which in turn was protected by her and Issun's Satomi Power Orbs.

With the sound of shattering glass, the two orbs broke apart, and as the fire around them died away, Alex could hear Issun yelling angrily, "Don't you EVER do something like that again, Furball!"

But before Alex, Issun, and even Orochi's heads could react, Amaterasu whipped her tail up and around as she suddenly lunged forward into the center of the mass of fiery heads that was Orochi's specter. Swinging the tail around as quickly and as powerfully as she could, Amaterasu began to unleash an absolute flurry of power slashes, each one aimed right for the demon's heads.

_Slash! Slash-slash! Slash-slash-slash-slash-slash!_ Under the intense barrage of ink attacks, the specter of Orochi's heads couldn't hope to hold up, and began to fly apart in bursts of flame as they were sliced and diced repeatedly.

Finally getting enough of his wits back to stand, Alex realized that all of the demons heads had disappeared as quickly as they had arrived, leaving only himself, Amaterasu, and a still-standing Crimson Helm within the ring, with Oki watching on from the side.

But something had happened…something he hadn't seen before.

Amaterasu, normally standing tall and strong, was suddenly looking very wobbly on her legs. Her bright red markings and the ink designs in her fur had mysteriously vanished along with her reflector, leaving her with only dirty white fur and a sadly drooping tail. Not only that, but the normally energetic wolf was now panting heavily…_very_ heavily, as though she had exhausted herself to the point of barely remaining conscious.

"…Ammy…?" Alex whispered quietly, frowning slightly in confusion over what had happened to her.

A bellowing roar drew his attention, and, to his sudden horror, he saw Crimson Helm fully garbed once again in its demonic armor, the demon pawing at the ground with its hoof before suddenly launching into a high-speed charge with its glaives held out at both sides and pointed towards the ground.

Straight towards Amaterasu.

"AMMY!" Alex suddenly shouted, his legs responding immediately as he dashed towards the wolf that had saved him.

"AMATERSU!" Wolf-Oki shouted in turn, the Oina Warrior closing the distance faster than Alex, but having the disadvantage of starting further back.

"FURBALL!" Issun shouted, hopping up and down on the wolf's head as if that would get her to react faster.

But in her exhausted state, she couldn't move fast enough. None of them could.

Issun let off a horrified scream, diving down into Ammy's fur…right before the massive freight train of a demon slammed into the wolf with a brutalizing amount of force.

Everything seemed to slow down for Alex at that moment…the man pulling to a stop, his mouth gaping open in shock as he watched Ammy's limp body fly through the air…Oki's furiously enraged growl, in slow-motion, as the blue wolf leaped at Crimson Helm and latched onto its arm, his eyes a vicious blood red again…

Ammy's body flipped around in the air, making a single, perfect revolution…

_CRUNCH!_

…before slamming headfirst into one of the wooden pillars lining the outside of the arena.

Her body remained there for a brief second, before sliding off and hitting the ground with a surprisingly soft _thump…_

And there she lay…her white fur scorched in numerous places, caked with dirt and matted with fresh blood.

_Her_ blood.

The sight of just seeing her there…the strong, indomitable being that had saved his life three times now…lying there limply, her eyes closed as Issun rolled out of his hiding spot, crying out her name as he hopped up and down on her muzzle…as if to wake her…

_Thump-thump._

His heartbeat suddenly made itself known…echoing into his ears and throughout his consciousness.

_Thump-thump._

She was hurt…

_Thump-thump…thump-thump._

She was hurt…Crimson Helm had hurt her…

_Thumpthump, thumpthump._

The demon had hurt her…

_Thumpthump, thumpthump, thumpthump!_

It hurt her!

His breath came fast and hard…was becoming tinged by a feral-sounding growl, deep in his throat… a sound deeper than any normal human should be able to make.

In the back of his mind, he knew what was happening…but this time, _he didn't care_.

_IT HURT HER!_

A pulse of energy shot from the sword in his hand, and blue fire suddenly sprang to life over his entire armored body, as he slowly turned to look at the demon with blazing blue eyes…watching as the demon flung aside Wolf-Oki and looked at him in turn.

"_YOU!"_ the sword's presence shouted through Alex, bringing the glowing Aku-Hametsu to bear as it and Crimson Helm immediately charged each other.

Red fire mixed with blue as the two entities clashed in the center of the ring, Aku-Hametsu's presence dodging and deflecting strikes from the mighty demon while pushing Alex to speeds faster than the man had ever moved before of his own accord. Every swing that the Crimson Helm threw was foiled and met in turn by at least three or four strikes in turn, hitting their mark more often than not as the infuriated Alex and spirit of Aku-Hametsu dueled with the demon.

But even in its weakened state, Crimson Helm still had some tricks up its sleeve…a fact proven when the demon double-slashed at Alex, forcing Aku-Hametsu's presence to dodge him away and giving the demon the opening it needed. Tensing its entire body up, Crimson helm leaped high into the air, right as Wolf-Oki suddenly appeared from the side, lunging at the demon with bared teeth but only catching air in his jaws.

Both of them looking up, they saw Crimson Helm suddenly hurtle down out of the air towards them at an astounding speed. Wolf-Oki and Aku-Hametsu's presence immediately turned to get out of range, but the demon was too quick for them, slamming into the ground with so much force that it smashed a massive crater into the stone beneath it. The resulting shockwave hit the two companions at nearly point-black range, launching them both through the air like Amaterasu had been.

Wolf-Oki got a rude surprise then he was suddenly knocked out of his transformed state, the wolf-turned-human hitting the ground and skidding across it until he smacked into the same wooden pillar that Amaterasu had…not nearly as hard as the white wolf had, but enough that it stunned the Oina man severely.

Alex's body, controlled by Aku-Hametsu, suddenly found itself freed from the sword's control when he collided with the ground hard enough to fling the weapon from his grasp, the sword clattering across the ground and stopping right at one of the edges to the arena. Left weaponless as the fire around his body died and Aku-Hametsu's presence was violently pulled from his mind, Alex pushed himself up and shook the disorientation from his head as he looked over to check on Oki, expecting to see the Oina man getting up as well.

What he saw instead was Crimson Helm bearing down on the man, raising his weapon up high as Oki, still shaking off the hit he had taken, was completely unaware of the danger looming above him and Amaterasu's limp form, Issun far too concerned with the well-being of his old friend to notice anything else.

"_NO! They'll die if I don't help them!"_ Alex thought, on the verge of panic. Aku-Hametsu couldn't help him; it was too far away for him to recover it in time.

Throwing caution to the wind, Alex took off towards where his friends were about to be cut down, checking himself for something, _anything_ that he could use.

The first thing his hand closed around was the spirit globe…the orb that had started this whole mess, that glowed with energy from Amaterasu…blue energy, imprinted from _him_.

It was wild, desperate, and crazy…but there was nothing else he could do.

* * *

><p>Oki caught sight of Crimson Helm, right as the demon stabbed the weapon towards him, and he raised his own sword in a final, futile defense.<p>

There was a brilliant blue flash of light, strong enough to blind him, and he immediately grunted and shielded his eyes, looking away until they were able to compensate.

"Oki…! Come on…Oki…MOVE!" he heard someone shout.

Bearing the blindingly strong light, Oki looked through it…and saw, amazingly, Alex.

The man was standing in front of him, against Crimson Helm's glaive, which appeared to be being held back by…light?

No…_fire._ A shield of _pure, blue fire._

Oki found himself wondering how Alex was possibly doing this, but his question was almost immediately answered when he looked down a bit and saw, clutched tightly in Alex's hand, nothing other than the glass orb he had seen the first time they had met…only this time, it was glowing brightly with blue energy, in a similar fashion to one of Amaterasu's spirit globes.

And this energy was reaching out, around Alex's body and forming what could only be described as a protective barrier, the powerful waves of flame buffeting back the sharp point of Crimson Helm's glaive, which in turn was being pressed upon by the demon with all the force it could muster.

Straining to stand under the heavy weight of the glaive pressing against him, Alex grunted with exertion as he slid back a few inches, the man leaning into the strike harder as he fought to regain the lost ground.

"Come…ON!" he shouted, his voice strained and coming out in sharp gasps. "MOVE!"

"_But_ _what about you? !"_ Oki shouted back.

"I'll…be…fine! Get…Ammy…out of the way!"

Oki stared at him for a few seconds, his eyes meeting Alex's in much the same way they had when he had saved Alex from the imps all those nights ago…only this time, the positions were reversed.

Nodding, he immediately stood and went to Amaterasu's body, calming a panicking Issun as he gently hoisted the wolf up in his arms and began carrying her off to the side, as far out of harm's way as the barrier would allow him.

But as he traversed the edge of the arena, hearing Alex's struggles behind him, he noticed with a great deal of concern that Alex's sword was lying on the ground in front of him.

"_Wait…if Alex's weapon is here, then…"_

It hit him suddenly. Without that orb, Alex was completely defenseless.

Planning to remedy that immediately, Oki set Amaterasu down and grabbed the weapon.

"Issun, stay here with Amaterasu," he stated calmly. "I'm giving Alex his weapon back."

The poncle, for once, didn't say anything. Near hysterics over what had happened to Amaterasu, he could only barely manage a nod as he wrung his hands and stared at his friend, quietly begging her to wake up.

Turning back to face Alex and Crimson Helm, still struggling against each other, Oki took the weapon in hand…and prepared to throw.

* * *

><p>They were safe. He had done it, with something that he had never expected to do what it had just done.<p>

Of all things, Amaterasu's spirit globe had pulled through for him. The thing that had started all of this for him had now saved his friends.

But now, he was in a precarious position indeed…he didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, and unless he timed this perfectly…

His train of thought never had the chance to finish.

At that exact moment, the fire emanating from the orb suddenly let off a sputter…and completely died out, the light fading from the orb and leaving it dull and grey again.

In the brief instant that the shield collapsed, he managed a surprised "Oh…"

And Crimson Helm's glaive sank into his gut.


	22. Emergence

**Alright! Right on schedule! But there are a few things I need to say. One, Damedelamer brought up a good point in the reviews: I should really upload a LOT sooner after a chapter with a cliffhanger like the last one. I'm kicking myself for not realizing sooner that I'm probably killing you guys with anticipation (that, or boring you) by taking so long to resolve my cliffhangers. So I apologize, and I promise to resolve my cliffhangers sooner.**

**Second, the music I included in this chapter is particularly epic, as all of the songs are some of my favorites, and I HIGHLY recommend them for listening. Just a warning, though, some of the songs have annoyingly long titles (like the ones from the Ao no Exorcist OST). But that's what copy/pasting into the YouTube search bar is for, right?**

**Anyways, enough rambling. On with the conclusion to Act 2! (And yes, I know it's a lot shorter than Act 1)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21: Emergence<strong>

Oki, still aiming the throw, saw it happen.

Alex getting impaled on the glaive…his body bending over it as the point dug in deeper, coming in at an angle, slightly glancing off the lower half of his chest plate, and slicing through his right side like a knife cut through bread.

The Oina warrior's arm lowered, as the shock of it hit him.

"Alex…" he whispered.

Crimson Helm snorted in a smug sort of way, and Oki could swear that he saw a leering, evil smile on the abomination's face, as it ripped the blade out and caused the man to drop to his hands and knees. The orb rolled from his grip, forgotten, as he clutched at the wound with his right hand, blood pouring out through the massive, open wound in his side.

"ALEX!"

* * *

><p><em>ALEX!<em>

He heard someone shout his name, but it sounded so far away…

He couldn't focus on it…couldn't comprehend it. He could only think one, solid thought:

"_Oh my God! I…I don't believe it! I've been stabbed!"_

There was so much pain…so much blood…_his blood._

Everything started going numb. He slowly began to realize that he was going into shock, as the corners of his vision began to turn black.

He reflexively put his hand over the injury…clutching at it while his other one barely held him up.

"_Oh my God!"_ he thought again.

It was no use…his blood just kept leaking out, through his fingers and onto the ground.

"_Is this it?"_

"_Is this the end?"_

"_Am I going to die?"_

"_But…I…I can't…I CAN'T die…"_

"_What about Oki?"_

"_What about Ammy? Or Issun?"_

"_What about everything Aku-Hametsu was talking about?"_

"_Is it all a lie? Was it never meant to happen?"_

He took a shuddering gasp of air, feeling another bolt of pain lance up his side…and he saw the large hooves of Crimson Helm in front of him, the demon still standing over him.

_Is it all a lie?_

Another gasp…and he summoned what was left of his rapidly waning strength to look up, to stare into the empty eyes of his opponent.

_Is it all a lie?_

There was a loud '_KRANG!'_, and suddenly, he saw Aku-Hametsu protruding Crimson Helm's left eye socket.

Oki's throw had hit dead on, and caused the demon to pause for a moment…but it wasn't enough. Nothing they had done up to this point, even Ammy's glaive through its chest, had been enough.

_Is it all a lie?_

"_KI KASAI!"_ he heard Aku-Hametsu's voice suddenly roar in his mind.

There was a loud whine of rapidly increasing pitch, right before a deafening BANG rang through the cavern, Crimson Helm's face suddenly covered in blue flames as the demon shrieked and backed off, even as Aku-Hametsu blasted itself free…

…and fell to the ground in front of him.

_No…it isn't._

At that one, single, precise moment in time, Alexander Grey knew _exactly_ what fate was telling him.

The sword was his only chance. Not just against Crimson Helm…but _everything._ Against the demon threat…against the mysterious and deadly humans allied with them…

Against his crippling injury, which his lifeblood still poured from.

He reached out, his vision beginning to tunnel as he saw his gauntleted hand grasping for the sword…almost like a separate entity.

But the weapon seemed so far away.

He reached…reached until he could reach no further…reached until his elbow joint strained and popped…

And his hand closed around the sword's hilt.

Immediately, Aku-Hametsu's presence wrapped around his mind…and the sword spoke.

"_Rise, Alexander! Your part in this story is not yet done!"_

"_How?" _his mind answered for him. _"Look at me! I'm bleeding all over the place!"_

"_You cannot fail now, at this most critical of times! The lives of your friends, of the people of Kusa Village, are at stake!"_

"_I…I can't."_

"_You can, and YOU WILL!"_

"_I…just…can't…"_ his mind said weakly, as he began to feel faint.

"_Arise!"_

Silence. He didn't have the strength to keep talking.

"_ARISE!"_

Nothing.

"_So be it, then! If you will not stand against the forces of darkness, then _I WILL!"

He heard the sound of a deep breath being drawn, before the sword bellowed, _"The Second Inheritance! RINKAI! CRITICAL STATE!"_

A surge of power shot from the sword, through his arm, and into the rest of his body as brilliant blue flames suddenly sprouted to life around him and Aku-Hametsu. The flames rapidly intensified as the power began to grow at an astonishing pace, and before long Alex found himself once again completely engulfed in an inferno of the sword's making.

His heartbeat picked up as his breathing grew heavier…so heavy in fact, that it began to sound more like another deep and feral growl that no human should ever have been able to make.

The world around him disappeared as the wall of flame roared up around him, and right before his mind was lost to Aku-Hametsu once more, he pitched forward onto all fours as he felt the pain in his side begin to numb…and his body began to change.

* * *

><p>Taken by surprise, Oki was forced onto his heels as a massive surge of heat slammed into him, radiating directly from the blue inferno that had suddenly appeared around Alex and forcing the Oina man to take his eyes off the young man as he shielded his face with an upraised arm. Struggling to look, even against the intense aura of heat that was beginning to rival Crimson Helm's, the Oina Warrior could only stare in shock as he began to hear sickening cracks and crunches over the roar of the flames, and a long, agonized howl of pain…a howl that quickly began to deepen in pitch, and turn purely <em>animalistic<em> in nature.

It was a loud, haunting sound that chilled the normally stalwart Oki to the bone, not at all like a wolf's howl. Even Crimson Helm seemed to be intimidated by the sound, the demon slowly beginning to back away from the inferno that was raging before it…the inferno that was beginning to spread, blue fire lancing out in every direction as Oki felt the tell-tale sensation of tremendous power building up within the center of the bonfire.

"_What in the world…?" _Oki could only think. Behind him, even Issun became intrigued enough by the sudden turn of events to peel his eyes away from the injured Amaterasu.

The flames cleared just a small bit, enough for them to see into the core of the inferno…and both of them saw it.

(_G-gundam OST – Kyoudai Kasuru Yabou_)

Rising out of the flames, arms outstretched to both sides, as it threw its head back and let off another bone-chilling howl.

The silhouette.

The same one that had taken Alex's place in the fight for Kusa Village.

It was all there: the triangular head with a long, thin muzzle and large, upright animal ears. The bright blue lines that went from its muzzle to its forehead. The sinewy, muscled body. The thrashing, writhing mass of multiple tails. The clawed hand and foot-paws, the latter of which were attached to double jointed hind legs that belonged on an animal, even though the creature stood on them upright like a human.

But it wasn't human. Nowhere close to it.

Finishing its cry, the silhouette snapped its jaws shut, but bore its teeth as it subsequently snarled at the demonic abomination before it, the waves of fire surrounding it intensifying with its fury.

"_Demon beast!" _it yelled, taking one step forward and tightening its clawed grip around Aku-Hametsu. _"How DARE you harm her!"_

Crimson Helm almost seemed flabbergasted by the sheer, unrestrained _power_ that the animalistic, human-like hybrid silhouette was radiating, the demon standing there unmoving as it continued to stare at the raging inferno.

"_You will not have her, spawn of Orochi!"_ the silhouette continued, its double-voice mixing with an equally strong growl._ "All you have accomplished this day is to provoke my fury…and now, for harming the Lightbringer, you shall feel the FULL EXTENT OF MY POWER!"_

With those words, the silhouette raised its free arm…and in a move that surprised everyone watching, dug its clawed hand deep into the flesh of its neck.

Only, it _wasn't _flesh, as Oki and Issun soon realized…when the silhouette began to peel away the _shadows themselves_ that were encasing and hiding its entire form.

With a savage, pained growl, the yanked hard at the shadowy material in its grip and tore away a large strip of it from its neck down across its broad chest, revealing part of what Oki and Issun realized was a coat of the most brightly colored silver fur they had ever seen.

Casting the shadowy material aside, which seemed to vanish the moment it left its hand, the creature grabbed another section just above its waistline and peeled it away, tearing off a large section of the material that was obscuring most of its chest, and revealing more silver fur that mixed with the newly revealed patch of white fur across its chest and abdomen.

More of the shadowy material began to peel away of its own accord, the entire covering beginning to weaken as the creature beneath it continued to peel it away. Entire sections around its arms, legs, and back were beginning to slough off and disappear, even as more of it was throw off of the thrashing tails behind it.

In seconds, it was over, and Oki found himself gaping in awe the sight that stood before him.

What had once been a largely undefined silhouette of shadow was now revealed as a tall, bipedal creature…which he realized could only be one type of animal, from the stories he had heard since he was a child.

A kitsune. To be specific, a large, _bipedal_ kitsune, with what Oki realized was no less than _nine _tails slowly thrashing around behind it.

It stood on two double jointed legs like a human, with fully functional arms and hands to match, but that was where the vague similarities ended. The hand and foot-paws all had the leathery pads of a regular animal's paws, and were all tipped with large, razor-sharp claws that were only matched in viciousness by the maw filled with sharp ivory teeth of the purest white. Its fur coat, covering its entire body, was a brilliant shade of silver, with its secondary colors being a large patch of white running down its chest with more patches tipping each long, slender tail, and deep black "gloves" and "boots" that covered its arms and legs from the elbows and "ankles" down respectively.

Atop its head, triangular fox ears of an equally black color twitched slightly in anticipation of something, both slightly obscured by the painted white mask that kitsune were notorious for wearing. Below them, there was a flowing, regal mane of silver fur that wrapped around its neck and reached halfway down the kitsune-hybrid's back, seeming to blow in some unseen wind that the blue fires around it were kicking up.

The eyes, however, were currently closed, the human-kitsune hybrid simply standing in place with its arms extended out to both sides, one clawed hand clutching Aku-Hametsu and its muscled chest heaving with breath…bearing a large scar across it that Oki only noticed now.

What the kitsune-hybrid was wearing, however, was another thing entirely. For the most part, the creature's body was exposed, save for the lower "skirt" section of a steel grey robe that was wrapped around the creature's waist, its tattered and torn edge reaching down to the kitsune-hybrid's knees. This was complemented by two solid, silvery metal pauldrons set on both of its shoulders, extremely ornate in appearance but also being the only actual armor the creature seemed to be wearing. Slung across its back was the same leather-bound sheath that Aku-Hametsu was contained in, the attached cord held tight across its broad chest.

Overall, it was a lithe and graceful looking creature…but with bands of iron-hard muscle that ran throughout its body, concealed beneath its shimmering coat of silver, white, and black fur. The area that it took up was enormous compared to Alex, for this creature that he had become stood at least a full head taller than him, with its long and dexterous tails stretching out far behind it.

It stood there, neither it, nor anything else making a move.

Until it began to speak…his deep, powerful, and masculine voice (which clearly identified the kitsune as a male) now bearing no trace of Alex's.

"It seems that this world is once again in need of my power…"

Crimson Helm, finally being the first to react, snorted angrily as its breath kicked up the dust and drove away the blue flames reaching out towards it.

"…for the forces of evil have once again shown their faces."

A heavy scraping sound reached their ears, as Crimson Helm pawed at the ground with a hoof while the kitusne-hybrid, his eyes still closed, raised Aku-Hametsu until it was parallel with his head, balancing the point of the weapon on the wrist of his off-hand.

"You who would do harm to the innocent! You who would desecrate this sacred shrine! Know my name, demon, for I am your doom made flesh!"

The kitsune-hybrid's eyes snapped open, revealing brilliantly shining blue orbs that practically glowed with the power and wisdom within.

"I am Amunae, of the Mori Tribe, and the last remnant of the Takeda! And before my sight, NO EVIL SHALL PASS!"

(_Ao no Exorcist OST – Symphonic Suite Devil, Third Movement: Exorcist_)

The fires around him condensed, forming a tight aura around the body of the one who had called himself Amunae, even as blue fire sprang to life at the tip of each of his nine tails, their lights burning brightly against the red flames that Crimson Helm commanded.

Bellowing loudly, Crimson Helm launched into another fearsome charge, which was met in turn by Amunae, who whipped Aku-Hametsu out to the side and went into a charge of his own, his foot-paws quickly padding across the ground as his raced across the floor of the arena straight towards the demon.

A vicious melee ensued, as both entities met in the center of the arena with a tremendous _WHANG _of colliding weapons, sparks flying as the three swords ground against each other with a horrible screech of metal. Amunae's teeth were bared in a furious snarl, his face almost equal with Crimson Helm's now, and pure rage was in his blue eyes as he and the demon pushed against each other with all of their might.

But this time, there was no stalemate between them. The spirit of Aku-Hametsu had unleashed his full fury…and now, Crimson Helm was his first target.

The fire on the kitsune-hybrid's tails flared up, as did the fire in his eyes…and the mighty demon suddenly found itself losing ground, its hooves skidding across the stone floor as they lost traction.

Oki stared, absolutely stunned by the show of unearthly strength that the kitsune-hybrid possessed.

Crimson Helm, the demon known for its tremendous, unending strength and power, was being _pushed_ back!

With every step forwards, he gained momentum, as his snarl began to strengthen into an angry growl, and even further to an outright roar of sheer, unbridled rage.

"RRRRAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH_!"_

At the peak of his battle cry, the kitsune-hybrid shoved his weapon forward with all of his strength, and Crimson Helm stumbled backwards, off balance and scrambling to regain it. But Amuane wasn't about to give it that chance, as the kitsune-hybrid began to strike at it with devastatingly powerful attacks, Aku-Hametsu glowing with blue fire as it sliced into the demon over and over, gouging out parts of its armor and even going so far as to hit the skeleton beneath.

Staggering backwards from the assault, Crimson Helm managed to raise its left glaive in defense, the demon's arm shaking as Amunae began to pound on it mercilessly.

Over and over, the strikes landed, gaining strength as the kitsune-hybrid let off an increasingly strained grunt with each attack, his own aura of flame growing in size and mixing with Crimson Helm's as the two entities clashed for dominance…and below them, on the weakened ground that bore a massive crater from Crimson Helm's power, large cracks began to spread from strain of their mixing energies.

Raising Aku-Hametsu up high and letting off a bellowing shout, Amunae slammed the katana down one last time with all of his strength…

…and with a deafening _BANG_, Crimson Helm's left glaive shattered like glass.

The cracks below them suddenly lanced outwards in all directions from the immense burst of energy. Oki dodged to the side as one of the small rifts opened up where he had been standing, the Oina warrior watching as it shot out beneath the demon barrier that was still up and quickly traveled up the wall of the cavern behind it.

The cavern began to rumble unsettlingly…but the power of Amunae's ki aura showed no signs of weakening. In fact, it only seemed to be getting _stronger_, even as Crimson Helm's aura began to weaken. The mighty demon that had plagued the Satomi House for so long was now being brought low by this creature that Alex had become…and he wasn't _nearly _finished yet.

Spinning around on one foot-paw, Aku-Hametsu above his head in a chopping position, Amunae took the weapon in hand and slammed it down a second time, striking the demon's helmet with enough force to crack the mighty piece of armor down the center, bringing the abomination down even further and forcing it to jam its remaining glaive into the stone floor to salvage what little balance it had left. Quickly becoming desperate to defend itself, Crimson Helm curled its free hand into a fist and, taking advantage of the kitsune-hybrid's briefly open defenses, threw a mighty, flame-encased punch.

_SMASH!_

The demon's punch connected with his rock-hard abs, the flames exploding outwards as the force of the hit doubled him over and sent him flying through the air…

…as his body suddenly dissolved into nothingness.

If the demon had eyes, they would have been wide in shock, as all three beings in the fight at that very moment suddenly caught on to what had happened.

"_SHIN SUTORAIKI!"_

Crimson Helm looked up from where the kitsune's illusion had vanished, to where the voice had emanated from…just in time for the point of Aku-Hametsu, crackling with sheer energy, to drive down into the space right between its eyeholes.

The sheer force of the hit was too much, even for the iconic piece of armor. The crimson helmet simply cracked into two separate halves and flew off to both sides, even as the demon's skull was revealed…and subsequently impaled all the way through, shards of bone flying as the demon's skull-head was driven into the ground, and held there by Aku-Hametsu.

There was a loud '_CRACK!'_ as the demon's lower jaw fractured apart from the force of it slamming into the stone floor, and the demon let off an odd sounding, partially slurred roar, even as it struggled weakly to lift its body and pry its skull-head free of the sword.

Releasing the weapon, Amunae lunged forwards and wrapped his clawed grip around the hilt of Amaterasu's seven-edged glaive, still protruding from the demon's armored chest.

And he began to pull, its aura increasing in power yet again as the kitsune-hybrid exerted his power.

"Find…" he breathed out heavily.

Another loud _crack_ punctuated his words as he wrenched the weapon free, proving his incredible strength yet again.

"…your peace…"

Blue fire suddenly lit up along the glaive's length, its crimson color turning a glowing blue as Amunae began channeling his power though the giant sword. The cavern continued to rumble as, far above them all, the cracks began to spread to the ceiling of the large cavern, loose rocks falling from it into the arena.

"…in the embrace…"

Hopping up onto Crimson Helm's back, the demon growling angrily as it continued to struggle futilely, Amunae raised the weapon high in a downward stabbing position above the demon's spine and ribcage.

"…of PURE FLAME!"

Slamming the weapon down with incredible force, the kitsune-hybrid drove Amaterasu's glaive into the demon's back with enough force to break through its spine and pierce all the way down into the fiery core that gave Crimson Helm its power. The demon shrieked in agony, thrashing around beneath the kitsune-hybrid as the blue fire raging along the length of the sword continued to pulse, growing stronger as the creature continued to slam its weight down on the weapon and drive it further and further in.

Through the rent in the chest plate of Crimson Helm's armor, Oki could see the fire of the demon's core begin to shift in color…beginning with red, and slowly shifting to blue as he felt the sensation of dramatically building power.

Sensing danger, the Oina man quickly shifted back into wolf form and darted over to where Amaterasu was laying, with Issun still standing atop her muzzle.

"Oki, what's going on? !" the poncle cried out over the intensifying roar of fire.

"Just stay down!" the wolf yelled back, positioning himself in front of the two as he looked back to the fighting pair, blue fire beginning to spill out from in between the cracks of Crimson Helm's armor as Amunae continued to force feed his raw ki energy into the demon's infernal core.

"But what's going to-!"

"Alex has this under control! JUST STAY DOWN!"

The demon's shriek reached an unearthly pitch as the fiery power within its chest reached critical levels…

KA-BOOOOOOM!

…and exploded with the force of a bomb.

In an instant, Crimson Helm's entire skeletal body was blown apart, the pieces immediately consumed by the raging inferno of blue fire that blasted outwards from the demon's core.

The heat was so intense, so incredible, so amazingly _powerful_, that the wooden pillars encircling the entire area of the arena almost immediately carbonized, charring black from the fire before shattering apart from the shockwave that ripped through them a moment later. Rocks and boulders from above came crashing down, as the ceiling continued to weaken from the repercussions of intense power.

Oki crouched down in front of Amaterasu and Issun, protecting them as he closed his eyes and waited for the flames to engulf him…

…but they didn't.

Cracking his eye open just a bit, Oki was met with the sight of what appeared to be the kitsune-hybrid's nine tails waving about in front of him…sticking out of the stone ground, the silver and white fur upon them shimmering as they held back the flames that would otherwise have been burning him alive.

Moments later, the flames began to die down…and Wolf-Oki suddenly realized that it was somewhat difficult to breathe, the intense heat from the flames having burned away some of the breathable air. He could hear crackling sound, as the demon barrier sealing them in suddenly died away, no longer held in place by the pillars that lay destroyed around him.

With the sound of moving earth, the nine tails suddenly retracted, and Wolf-Oki saw a sight that would have stolen his breath away, had he not been short on it already.

There, atop the smoking, charred pile of bones and armor that used to be Crimson Helm, was the kitsune-hybrid. The kitsune-hybrid that had called itself Amunae.

And behind it was the Gale Shrine…amazingly, still intact.

His clawed hands were wrapped around the hilt of the smoking seven-edged glaive of Amaerasu's, suspending the upper half of his body as he stood on his double-jointed legs. This position of being suspended over Crimson Helm's body had proven appropriate enough for him to use his nine tails in the way that had protected Wolf-Oki and his companions, the appendages even now retracting from the ground and into their normal position, waving about nonchalantly as the kitsune's rage began to fade.

Kitsune magic. The same magic that had allowed the hybrid to perform his illusion.

The very notion of it gave Oki the chills.

The kitsune-hybrid in question was now breathing in deep, heaving breaths, punctuated by the occasional light growl, as it continued to hold the position…staring straight at Wolf-Oki.

Bright blue eyes beneath the stark white mask met Wolf-Oki's savage, yellow eyes…

And the kitsune's grip suddenly loosened, the fox-hybrid slipping off the blade and falling off the side of the pile of charred bones and armor.

"Alex!" Wolf-Oki cried out, running over to the creature, despite the feelings of unease that it awoke in him.

The first thing that caught his gaze when he reached him was the large scar on the kitsune-hybrid's chest. It was bleeding.

Wolf-Oki drew his head back, confused. Did this thing that had taken Alex's place somehow sustain a wound?

"_But I never saw him get hit across the chest! How did this wound appear if he never-"_

His thoughts were interrupted when the kitsune-hybrid suddenly let off a pained gasp.

"It…is…done…" Wolf-Oki heard it whisper.

Before the wolf could react, there was a sudden _poof_ of smoke, making him cough and step back.

As it cleared, Wolf-Oki looked back, and saw Alex. He was back to his normal self now, curled into another fetal position on his side, with his armor, cloak, and sword sheath still intact.

Stepping forward gingerly, Wolf-Oki took a few experimental sniffs, to make absolutely sure this was really Alex again.

He picked up the man's scent, thankfully…but now, it was mixed with that of a fox.

Shaking his head in disbelief, his gaze went from the young man to Aku-Hametsu, still impaled through the skull of the demon in front of the bone and armor pile, before returning to Alex when he heard the young man stir.

"O…Oki…?" he said weakly, slowly turning his head to look at the dark blue-furred wolf.

"Easy…don't try to move," Oki said, shifting back into his human form and crouching down at the man's side.

"It…it happened again…didn't it?" came the expected question, making Oki clench his teeth slightly.

"…and then some," the Oina man said after a moment, looking back to the smoking, charred pile beside them.

"Jesus…" Alex muttered, having a look for himself. "…must've been one hell of a fight, huh?"

For the first time since they had started on this ill-fated quest to cleanse the Gale Shrine, Oki managed a small smile.

"One that any self-respecting Oina warrior would be jealous of for not participating in," he said.

"Heh…" Alex chuckled, before going into a sudden fit of hacking coughs and wheezes, curling up again in an involuntary reaction.

"Oh…oh God…" he gasped out. "It feels like my insides are on fire! Shit…the last thing I remember was…was…"

Alex's eyes suddenly widened, as the memories of recent events came flooding back to him.

"_Shit!"_ he suddenly cursed again, bolting upright and startling Oki with his sudden movements. "Ammy! Where is she! ? Is she ok! ?"

"Alex…! For the Brush Gods' sakes, _lie down!_ You'll aggravate it!"

"Aggravate what? What're you talking about? !"

"Your injury, you blasted fool! Don't you remember? !"

"Injury…?" Alex mused, looking down to check himself.

His eyes caught sight of it, just as Oki looked around him at it.

There, completely visible through the open tear in the leathery underlay of his armor, was what once looked to be a gash of sizable proportions, now caked with dried blood and appearing to be tightly sealed with _scar tissue_.

"What in the world…?" Oki breathed. "Your wound…it's…it's been _burned shut!_"

"Burned shut? You mean…cauterized?" Alex muttered, frowning in confusion, before his look turned to one of eventual horror as he realized just what kind of wound he had.

"Ho-ly…oh my God!" he sputtered out. "That…I…but…it doesn't make sense! I don't feel anything from it!"

"What? How could you not feel a wound like that? !"

"Seriously, I don't feel anything from it! My insides feel like they're on fire, but…I can't feel a thing around this gash! Why is that? !"

"I…I honestly don't know…" Oki said, truly confused now.

"Well, look, it doesn't matter!" Alex said, surprising Ok again by pushing himself to his feet without help. "I'm more worried about Ammy! Is she ok?"

"She…she is over there, with Issun," Oki answered, standing up and following the young man while still trying to wrap his head around how exactly Alex was virtually unhurt from his ordeal.

Crouching down by the wolf, Alex looked her over, noting with concern the numerous cuts and bruises she had sustained, along with several patches of charred fur mixed with a thick coating of dirt and dust.

She was an absolute mess…but as Oki came up and crouched down beside him, he noticed that she was still breathing. Issun, still atop her muzzle, had calmed down a bit now, but still had an extremely worried look on his face as he wrung the edge of his beetle-shell helmet in his hands.

Looking her over himself and feeling around several of the injuries, Oki let off something of a relieved, if still somewhat strained sigh.

"She will live…" he said. "Believe it or not, her injuries are not that severe. A few broken bones, perhaps…but she has had worse."

"_Well, that's good to know at least…"_ Alex thought. _"I'd never forgive myself if she…"_

He couldn't finish the thought. Just thinking about what could have happened was too difficult.

After a moment, Oki turned to him and said, "Gather your things. We've done what we came here to do, and the sooner we leave this place, the better."

Alex stared at him for a second before nodding slowly, and stood up to make his way back over to the smoking pile that was Crimson Helm's corpse, stepping around the large rocks and boulders that now littered the arena. Spotting his helmet amidst the debris, he grabbed it and shook it off of it before plopping it back down on his head. Continuing through, his boot hit something and dislodged it, sending it rolling across the stone floor until he caught up with it and picked it up as well. Brushing the dirt off of it, he discovered that it was Amaterasu's spirit globe, still in one piece but no longer glowing with its blue energy.

Shrugging to himself, he place it back in the pouch at his side, and continued up to the pile of bones and armor, where Aku-Hametsu still was lodged upright in the demon's skull.

Grabbing onto it with both hands, he placed his foot against the skull and began to tug at the weapon. His burning insides prevented him from straining too hard, but slowly, he managed to work Aku-Hametsu up and out of the demon's cranium.

The moment it came free, he heard chanting again. The same chanting that he had heard when he was pulling the sword free of the Spider Queen's corpse.

"_In my victory, I claim this demon's soul as my prize!"_ came the expected voice, as blue wisps of flame began to radiate out from around the pile of bones and armor he was standing in front of. Twisting around him and feeding into Aku-Hametsu, the sword's glow intensified as its power grew again, becoming blindingly bright for a split-second before it disappeared in a brilliant flash.

Looking at the weapon now, Alex could see a new runic symbol above that of the Spider Queen's, looking vaguely like the same helmet that Crimson Helm had worn…apparently now split into two separate pieces, as he could see from where he was standing.

"_Two souls now…"_ he thought. _"And if that specter of Orochi was any indication of things, it's only going to get harder from here on out."_

Suddenly, he heard the sound of fire flaring to life, and looking past Aku-Hametsu, Alex could see a blue bonfire engulfing the pile in front of him, growing hot enough that he took several steps back and watched as the bones in the pile began to char even more before dissolving into blue-colored embers that rose into the air above him, framed by the still-intact Gale Shrine in the background. Amaterasu's glaive, again, slipped from the body of the demon and clattered to the ground, no longer held in place by a solid form.

Coalescing together, the fiery embers formed a tightly packed ball of blue glowing ash the hovered in midair for a moment, before exploding outward with a burst of fire, the ashes scattering everywhere and leaving something behind.

Peering through the falling flakes of ash, Alex caught sight of something long, thin, and circular in design, seeming to be made up of multiple segments that were held together by some unseen power as they rotated around each other in marvelous cohesion.

A rosary. Just like Amaterasu's, only its coloration was different as Alex soon saw.

As the blue light around it began to normalize, Alex saw that the respective "beads" were actually more flat than round, and were shaped to look like some kind of fireball in midflight. They burned with the same blue fire that Aku-Hametsu did in its powered up state, and it was this power that stretched out behind the beads as the weapon suddenly began to spin around and shot right towards him.

Somehow knowing that they wouldn't hurt him, but still holding his left arm up to defend himself just in case, Alex watched as the beads suddenly widened apart and slipped over the raised limb, pulling back together and, to his great surprise, shrinking in size until they were no bigger than a simple armband. Their fiery glow had diminished, and they were now slowly rotating around his wrist in the same fashion…still there, but discrete and out of the way.

"_The Fox-Fire Beads…" _Aku-Hametsu whispered in his mind, the voice sounding strangely clearer and more precise than before. _"Wield them with caution, Alexander, for they contain a portion of my own substantial power within them."_

"_Fox-Fire…? Why fox-fire?"_

He got no answer in return.

Getting angry at the sword's silence again, he was about to start chewing the weapon out when the cavern suddenly began to shake.

"_Huh?"_ he thought, looking upwards, just as Oki did from across the cavern.

On the ceiling, he could see a giant spider web of cracks in the stone, having met in the center with dust and some loose pebbles trickling from the central crack.

The loud groaning of shifting earth and stone reached their ears, reverberating through the cavern and off into the distance, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

"_Uh oh…"_

_Crack!_ CRUNCH!

One of the top sections of the shattered wooden pillars, still attached to the stone ceiling above, suddenly tore free and crashed down upon the lower section in the floor, causing wooden splinters to fly through the air as eons-old dirt and stone were exposed to the air once more, scattering across the floor and mixing with the debris that was already there.

The rumbling intensified, as the entire cavern began to shake beneath their feet, knocking Alex off balance and sending him stumbling around as Oki and Issun held their ground by Amaterasu's limp form.

"CAVE-IN!" Alex bellowed over the roar of the earth, and as if on cue, the ceiling of the cavern began to break apart and send massive chunks of rock and dirt slamming down into the arena. _"We gotta go NOW!"_

"But what about the Gale Shrine? !" Issun yelled back.

"Forget the shrine! Worry about your own skin!"

"But…!"

"He's right, Issun! There's nothing we can do! Now come, quickly!" Oki said, snatching up the poncle in his hand and placing him on his shoulder before scooping up Amaterasu in his arms, the white wolf's blood getting on his hands and arms but hardly concerning him as he turned back to Alex. The young man in the meantime was briefly considering grabbing Amaterasu's glaive, but the tremendously loud _CRASH_ of a massive boulder crushing the small pagoda of the Gale Shrine quickly changed his mind.

Wincing at the destruction to the shrine before turning away and dashing across the stone floor as fast as he could, Alex dodged the falling debris as he fought to maintain his balance from the cavern shaking so much. The Oina warrior waited for Alex to get clear of the area before dashing into the entrance of the hall beyond.

Making their way down the hall, the rumbling continued, as sharp cracks and splits began to appear in the wooden hallway, dislodging several of the lanterns and knocking over the flamethrower traps that were in their way.

"It's a chain reaction! This whole place is coming down!" Alex shouted, matching Oki's pace as best he could as they charged into the wider corridor lined with more of the wooden pillars. There was a loud _CRACK _ above them as the cracks in the stone began to follow them into here as well, causing one of the giant pillars to dislodge and slowly fall over onto the path behind them with a tremendous BOOM!

The jolt from the falling pillar knocked Alex off his feet and sent him sprawling across the floor, but he was almost immediately back on his feet as Oki doubled back and grabbed his cloak, pulling him back up. Dashing into the main chamber the two men stopped to catch their breath, even as the rumbling intensified around them.

"Where do we go from here? !" Alex shouted. "We can't get back to the entrance without Ammy's wind to move the walkway!"

"There! The moving platform!" Oki responded, directing Alex's gaze to the elevator they had used to get in. "We can still escape through the windmill! _Hurry!"_

(_Shadow of the Colossus OST – A Despair-filled Farewell_)

Jumping onto the walkway, Oki began carrying Amaterasu and Issun across, Alex following suit as both of them fought to maintain their balance. The walkway was shaking heavily along with the cavern as boulders began to dislodge from within the hollowed out mountain above them, plunging past them and disappearing into the gaping black abyss below them.

Making it to the halfway point first, Oki immediately set out for the safe ground at the other end, Alex reaching the same point several seconds behind him and following closely.

Oki had nearly made it to the other side when it happened.

Out of nowhere, a massive boulder the size of a wagon smashed into the corner section behind them…and the walkway suddenly dropped out from beneath their feet, as the half they were on was broken off from the rest.

Alex, taking up the rear, got the worst of it as he was thrown off his feet. Landing flat on the walkway, he began to slide back for a few horrifying seconds, his eyes widening as he realized he was heading straight for a plunge past the broken section of walkway and into the abyss below.

On sheer reflex, he managed to throw his hand out, and caught hold of one of the last few rungs on the walkway's railing, suspending him over a massive drop that would almost certainly kill him should his grip fail.

Oki, further ahead and right on the edge of safe ground, managed to throw his right hand out and catch ahold of the edge, realizing that the walkway itself was still barely holding on to the edge with him by just a few splintering inches of wood. His grip on Amaterasu was barely maintained, his other hand clamped tightly around her right paw as she dangled limply.

Her paw began to slip from his grasp…the blood from her injuries was slicking her fur and his palm.

Realizing this, Oki tightened his grip as hard as he could, but it was no use: her weight was pulling her blood-slicked paw out of his grip, and he couldn't stop it without falling himself.

"No…_NO…"_ he gasped out in exertion and horror.

Her paw slipped free.

"NO! AMATERASU!" he shouted.

"FURBALL!" Issun cried out.

_WHUMPH!_

Both had to blink several times to realize what had just happened.

With his free arm, Alex had, amazingly, caught the wolf as she fell. She had literally slid down the walkway and right into his waiting arms.

Holding her around the midsection in a much more secure grip, Alex slipped his foot onto the last rung…and began climbing.

Slowly, ever so slowly, as the cavern shook and the inside of the mountain continued to collapse, Alex climbed the sideway railing like a ladder with only one free hand standing between him and certain death.

Realizing that their fortune had changed, Oki scrambled up onto safe land and reached down as far as he could, holding his hand out to Alex as the young man steadily came closer.

"Hurry, Alex! Keep climbing!" he shouted.

"Come on, Tinhead, you can do it! CLIMB!" Issun yelled from atop the Oina man's shoulder.

The wooden walkway, still locked into the edge beneath them, suddenly let of a _CRACK_ as a few inches of the wood still holding it up broke off. The section of walkway suddenly listed to the side, and Alex lost his footing, barely catching himself with his quickly tiring arm.

"_ALEX! HURRY!"_ Oki yelled, flinching away as a rock slammed into the ground beside him.

Summoning every last ounce of strength in his limb as adrenaline coursed through his veins, Alex let of a strained growl as he gritted his teeth and pulled himself back into a climbing position, the muscles in his arm bulging as he taxed them of all their strength.

Coming up below Oki and Issun, the man stopped climbing and began to lift Amaterasu as far as he could, his arm shaking as he held the wolf-goddess up as high as he could for Oki to grab.

"That's it, Tinhead! Just a little higher!" Issun said, his voice cracking from anxiety as Oki reached down.

_SNAP!_

The last part of the walkway broke free…and Alex looked straight into Oki's eyes in the brief instant he had…

The brief instant, before him, Amaterasu, and the walkway they were on was swallowed up by the abyss below.

Oki, in complete shock, was frozen in place. His hand still held out towards open air, where Amaterasu had only been inches away from his hand.

Not a single word or sound escaped his throat.

They were gone. They were both gone.

* * *

><p>(<em>Okami OST – Sacrificial Arrow<em>)

_In that battle, the four companions proved victorious over the fearsome Crimson Helm. Their combined might was more than a match for the fiery demon…as was the incredible power of the sword called Aku-Hametsu, now revealed and witnessed first-hand by Oki and Issun._

_But it had come at a terrible cost._

_For now, Alex and the injured Amaterasu had vanished into the depths of the mountain, swallowed up by the darkness that lurked below._

_And no one knows what lurks in the deep places of the world._

_But our story is not over…there is still much to be told, much to be learned._

_And as the four companions would soon learn…stories do not always end so easily._

* * *

><p>In the darkness, the creak of an opening door could be heard, before being quickly overridden by a tremendous slam as the clearly massive portal shut.<p>

"You called for me, Master Nobunaga?" a confident, gravelly voice answered.

The black samurai, staring out a large window enshrouded in blood red light, spoke:

"Our spies have had interesting things to report. Apparently, there was a cave-in that destroyed the Gale Shrine at Kusa Village, shortly after the band of four purged it of Crimson Helm."

Nobunaga, framed by the crimson light, adjusted his arms that were currently folded behind his back.

"However, only two of the companions that went in – the Oina man and the poncle – came out of the shrine…and they had very interesting things to say about their lost friends, concerning a particular abyss."

"I see…the depths below the mountain then?" the voice answered.

"If I know one thing, it is that Aku-Hametsu will not allow its wielder to die so easily," Nobunaga responded, turning to face the source of the voice behind him.

"You have your orders, Kurenai. Gather your men, find him…and kill anything that gets in your way."

There was a loud _schwing _of sharpened metal.

"Consider it done, my lord."

* * *

><p><strong>(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)<strong>


	23. He of the Nine Flames

**And here we are again, roughly a week ahead of schedule! Hope that's early enough for you guys, cause that's probably what the time frame of my "cliffhanger-resolution chapters" is going to be. Also, kind of a short chapter here, but that's what I get for taking so long on the first part of this chapter. Curse you, Writer's Block! *hits Writer's Block with sledgehammer***

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22: He of the Nine Flames<strong>

"_Where do you think you're going? !"_

"_What does it look like? ! I'M LEAVING!"_

"_Oh no you're not! Get in there and clean out the mess you made!"_

"_NO! I'm not cleaning up your mistakes anymore! I'M DONE!"_

"_GET BACK HERE!"_

"_SCREW YOU! GET THE HELL OFF ME!"_

_CRASH!_

"_No, Harold! Stop it! Please, just stop it!"_

…

…

…

_Wake up._

Alex's eyes snapped open…but the sight that was awaiting him wasn't what he expected.

He was lying on his back in the middle of a large patch of forest overgrowth, bushes, moss, roots, and other things found in a moist forest setting lining the area around him as he lay there, staring straight up into a thick canopy of tree branches.

It was dark and shadowy where he was, the only light being the faint trickles of sun that wove throughout the tightly packed leaves above.

The trickles of light themselves were bright…too bright for him to see the sky above and beyond the thickly covered branches. So bright that it almost engulfed the branches themselves, as if it were trying to hide them from his sight.

In fact, a LOT of the forest he was in seemed to be this way…lifting his head and looking around, he noticed that his vision in this place seemed to be hampered. He could see a fair distance away, but everything beyond that seemed to be enshrouded in some odd light-bloom effect…partially swallowing up the thick growth around him in its white glow.

His first thought was, _"Am I dead?"_

Slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, he found that he was still wearing the armor that Gizo had given him…dented up and covered in dirt and dried blood, but mostly intact. A quick inspection revealed that Sakuya's Blossom and Amaterasu's spirit globe were still there as well, in their place in the pouch at his side. The Spidersilk Cloak was still tied around his neck securely, and his most recent acquisition, the rosary known as the Fox-Fire Beads, was still quietly rotating in place around his left wrist.

The real surprise came when, reaching up over his shoulder, Alex discovered that Aku-Hametsu was gone. He grasped at the space where his practiced hand would be gripping the sword's hilt, but a glance over his shoulder told the truth of the matter: there was no hilt there. No sheath, either. The mighty weapon had simply disappeared off his back.

Looking down, he also discovered that his injury from Crimson Helm, burned shut by Aku-Hametsu's power, was gone, fully replaced by smooth skin. In fact, _all_ of his injuries – cuts, bruises, and the like – were gone. His armor was still dirty and damaged…but beneath it, his body was perfectly fine.

Confused and quickly growing worried, Alex pulled himself into a cross-legged sitting position and sat there for a moment, gathering his bearings as he wondered just _what the hell was going on._

"_The last thing I remember was…the fall,"_ he thought.

_SNAP!_ The sound rang out from the memory his mind recalled, as did the final image of him staring straight into Oki's eyes before the section of walkway he was desperately grasping onto fell.

"_And Ammy…"_

The memory reversed direction, to where he had spotted Amaterasu's limp form sliding down the dangling walkway straight towards him…and the split-second decision of his to reach out and catch her before she plummeted to certain doom.

For all the good it did her.

Looking around the ground nearby, Alex saw no sign of the wolf. No paw-prints in the moist dirt around him to indicate her passage, no flecks of white fur to indicate where she could have been lying. Nothing.

_Nothing._ The word suddenly stuck out to him, as he realized its context in relation to his current situation.

There was nothing…no buzz of insects, no cries of wild animals, no voices of either human beings or demons. Only the faint howl of some far-off wind, barely heard from where he sat.

It was quiet in this mysterious forest…_too quiet._

_Alex…_

He looked up at the sound of his faintly whispered name, his mind suddenly racing. Was there someone out here with him?

Was it Ammy?

_Alexander…_

No…it wasn't, he realized. Amaterasu spoke to others' minds with her thoughts. This voice…

This voice was carried on the wind, reaching him on the back of a faint breeze… as soft as the voice that was whispering to him.

_Come to me, Alexander…_

"…_What the hell is going on…?"_ he thought anxiously to himself, gritting his teeth anxiously. Something about the voice seemed familiar…but it was so faint, he couldn't place his finger on it.

_Come to me…I hold the answers that you seek…_

"But…how do I find you?" he found himself whispering.

_Follow my voice…follow the wind…_

Slowly, Alex turned until the faint breeze twisting through the forest was brushing against his face, wrapping around him and gently pulling him in the direction that it was originating from.

Slowly, he began to walk.

(_Shadow of the Colossus OST - Prologue_)

And he walked.

And walked…for how long, he didn't know. Minutes…hours, maybe.

He couldn't be sure…but it almost felt like time was standing still in this mysterious place. No sunrise or sunset was there to mark the passage of the day…

…If this even _was _day. All he could see beyond the short distance afforded to him was the same engulfing white light, and whether it was the sun's light…or something else…remained to be seen.

His heavy boots made almost no sound as he strode through the mysterious forest, the crunch of them stepping on dead leaves or the rustle of them brushing against small bushes barely reaching his ears.

It all seemed so…_detached._

But that was crazy, he thought. He could _see_ the trees, the leaves, and the undergrowth as he went along, could _feel_ the rough bark scraping against his gauntleted hand and the cool forest wind against his face…but at the same time, it all had an indescribable feeling of _emptiness_. Like none of it was really there.

That worried him even more.

_I have been awaiting this moment for quite some time…_

The voice was slightly more audible now, sounding as though he was getting closer to its source. Again, he got the feeling that he had heard it before, but the answer still eluded him.

Continuing to make his way through the trees, with the wind leading him in some unknown direction, Alex began to notice the slow, steady change that was happening around him.

The further he walked, the further it seemed that he could see…the white light-bloom effect was apparently starting to retract, granting him better sight of the forest around him. Each step he took caused it to retreat further and further away, until he could clearly see his surroundings.

Not only that, but now he began to hear sounds as well. The sounds of the forest, slowly picking up in volume and frequency. He began to pick up the sounds of birds chirping and flitting from branch to branch, the faint buzz of insects, the rustling leaves in the wind.

The forest around him was slowly coming into focus…was slowly coming to life. And the effect only increased with every step he took.

_You are coming close, Alexander._

"Close to what?" he whispered in response.

_You will see._

"_Just give me a straight answer, already!"_ he thought, shaking his head in confusion as he continued forward. Now he could hear running water in the distance, slowly becoming noisier as he realized that the wind was leading him towards it, and before long, he stepped through a gap in the trees and spotted it up ahead.

Cutting through the land and weaving in between the multitude of trees, the decently sized river gently burbled along its path as Alex came up to it and looked both ways along the bank.

The direction to his right led back the way he came, into the darkness of the trees. The other to his left led towards an opening in the trees, glowing brightly as sunlight from the other side poured through.

_Do you choose to remain shrouded in darkness? Or will you expose your soul to the light?_

It was not so difficult a choice. Turning left, he pondered the lighted opening, before sucking in a deep breath and stepping forward.

Like the wind, the light almost seemed to reach out to him, to gently wrap around him and pull him further into the web of intrigue that he had found himself in.

Unable to see anything around him from the blinding light in his eyes, Alex shielded his face with his arm and kept walking forward…

…and emerged into a setting that made his mouth drop open in awe.

The landscape had undergone a dramatic shift: instead of trees and undergrowth, what lay ahead of him was a fantastically huge field of jade-green grass, moving in wide, sweeping waves from the strong, warm wind. The massive, hilly plain stretched off into the distance, seemingly into eternity as it met the horizon and connected with the brilliant blue sky, dotted with several puffy clouds. To his right, the small river continued to flow out of the forest, opening up into a large delta and nearly tripling in width, becoming a mighty flow of water that glistened in the bright midday sun far above.

Everything seemed so much more _vibrant_ here than in the forest…the bright colors and fantastic view made it feel like he had stepped into the landscape painting of a master artist.

It was calm and serene…but there was also a certain power in this place. He couldn't describe the sensation, only that he felt it in every fiber of his being. This was no ordinary plain.

Staring off into the distance as the knee-high grass rustled against his leg-plates and the wind set his black cloak gently billowing out to the side like a flag, Alex spotted something. Squinting as he leaned forward, he saw what looked like a lone tree, situated atop a large hill and clearly fed by the wide river that flowed next to it, moistening the dirt for its roots.

Casting one last glace around him, Alex suddenly noticed that the forest behind him had disappeared, replaced by more of the massive plain that seemed to stretch off into eternity, followed by the large river as well.

"_Uh…ok now…getting a little freaked out here…"_ he thought, his face twisting into a worried grimace.

_Do not be frightened, Alexander._

"It's a little late for that," he responded to the voice, which was even more audible now.

_You have nothing to fear in this place._

"Oh really?" he answered sarcastically.

_Come. I am waiting for you._

The wind shifted direction, now nudging him in the direction of the lone tree in the distance…and having nowhere else to go, Alex reluctantly began walking again.

Following the bank of the river, his head and shoulders warmed by the sunlight falling upon them, Alex took off his helmet and stuck it under his arm as he walked. Despite his feelings of unease, he couldn't deny the sense of calm that pervaded this place. But at the same time, it was exactly that sense of calm that set him on edge.

It was unnatural in nature. Something was causing this…obviously, something powerful.

And Alex had a feeling that he was about to meet that certain "something."

Reaching the foot of the hill, Alex looked up it and saw that, while steep where he was currently, it seemed to level out up higher, granting plenty of ground to move about comfortably without having to worry about losing your balance.

Looking up the hill, Alex suddenly heard something…a voice, somewhere that he couldn't see, coming from atop the hill and slightly muffled by distance.

"_For one hundred years, I have slept…"_

"_Huh?"_ Alex thought.

"_Watching…waiting…"_

Intrigued, Alex set off up the hill, straining his eyes towards the large, wide-branched tree in hopes of seeing the source of the voice…

"_Waiting for the time when my power would be needed once more…"_

He suddenly realized that it was the voice that had been speaking to him, on the wind.

"_And who do I find, but the most unexpected of humans?"_

Cresting the top of the hill onto the leveled out section, Alex saw someone sitting against the foot of the tree, obscured slightly by the shadows of the branches.

"_He is young…unprepared…has yet to prove himself…"_

Tentatively walking forward, Alex could see that it was a man, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and his head bowed…his hands holding something in his lap.

"But I have seen the potential in him…" the man said, who Alex realized was the source of the voice. "He is strong…dedicated…he may yet prove sufficient, for the task of the Sword-Wielder."

"What?" Alex asked, stopping a short distance away from the man. Now that he was closer, he could see the man's surprisingly young features, his rather delicate facial features complemented by straight, smooth hair that was the color of pure silver. His upper torso was exposed, revealing a lithe but well-sculpted body that rippled with muscle, while his lower body was fully covered by the long "skirt" section of a steel-grey robe, its edge tattered and torn.

The man's eyes opened at the sound of Alex's voice, revealing bright blue eyes that almost seemed to glow in stark contrast of the tree's shadow, as he continued to stare down at the object held in his lap.

"But I can no longer tarry…" he said in a low voice. "Even now, he approaches me…seeking answers…seeking guidance."

The man lifted the item in both hands, solemnly turning it around and slipping it down over his face, before slowly standing up to his full height of what could have been at least been a full foot taller than Alex. His silver hair seemed to shimmer slightly as he stood, and Alex could see the length of it reaching all the way down his back to just above his waist.

Alex immediately recognized the item as a painted white mask, shaped in the likeness of a fox's face with dark blue lines of ink stretching from the muzzle's nose up to the eyes, which the lines parted and circled around, as well as going in between them to form what looked like two sickle-shapes facing each other on the forehead.

The man's bright blue eyes stared at him through the mask's eyeholes, before he began to slowly walk forwards.

Alex felt like taking a step back, but something was preventing his legs from moving.

The kitsune-masked man walked right up to him, stopping only several feet away with his hands folded in front of him, looking the young man up and down as he studied him.

After what seemed like several minutes, the man slowly nodded…and his mask smiled, the corners of its mouth turning up as it slightly revealed a maw of sharp white teeth.

Alex realized that it wasn't just a mask now…_it was his face._

"We meet at last, Alexander Grey," the man said in his deep, smooth voice.

"W-who – or what – _are you?"_ Alex stammered out. "And…how do you know my name? !"

"Who am I…and what am I?" the man calmly repeated, looking off into the distance as he seemed to ponder the two questions. "And how do I know your name?"

The man slowly paced off to the side, staring at the river a short distance away, as Alex looked at him with a perplexed look on his face.

"Ho ho ho ho…" the man quietly chuckled, so quiet that Alex almost missed it. "All simple questions, with an equally simple answer: you should already know."

"Already know…? What do you MEAN _already know? !_" Alex snapped, his confusion turning to irritation.

"Does the sound of my voice not spark the flame of a memory in your mind?" the masked man said, turning his head to stare at him with a single blue eye.

"_It…it DOES seem familiar…but…where have I -"_

The answer hit him like a slap in the face.

"It's _you…"_ he suddenly gasped, pointing his finger at the man like he was a witness in a courtroom. "You're…you're the voice that's been talking to me ever since I found the sword! _You're Aku-Hametsu!"_

The mouth of the mask turned up in a sharp-toothed smile again.

"Yes…and no," he said.

Turning and walking back towards the tree's thick trunk, the masked man slowly began to move about the circumference of it, just like Sakuya did when Alex had first met the tree sprite.

"As you are already aware, Alexander…in Nippon, there are many things that are more than what simply meets the eye," the man calmly stated, before disappearing around the tree trunk.

What came out on the other side actually DID make Alex step back…and then promptly stumble as he tripped, too frightened and awestruck to watch his footing.

Replacing the masked man was an absolutely _enormous_ nine-tailed kitsune.

Alex immediately had flashbacks to the time he had met Ren and Miyu, the two seven-tailed kitsune in the Takeda Ruins that had stood high enough to look him straight in the eyes, but this one…this one was even bigger than the two foxes _combined._ It stood at least several feet higher than Alex's head, possibly ten feet or more in height altogether.

Covering its entire body was a magnificent fur coat of the purest silver Alex could imagine, shimmering with unearthly beauty in the warm sunlight and forming a full-bodied mane around its neck that seemed to stretch almost halfway down its back. Mixed with the silver was white fur across its chest, underbelly, and on the tips of each of its nine tails, with black fur that gave the appearance of "gloves" and "boots" on each of its four legs, with more of it on its ears.

Alex also spotted a scar that stretched at a diagonal angle across its chest, the only spot on the kitsune's body where fur didn't seem to grow. It looked to be something of a well-healed wound, but it was still a glaringly ugly spot on an otherwise beautiful animal. As the kitsune slowly shook its large body off and settled down onto the ground, its nine long tails curling around the tree next to it, the young man also noticed a similar scar across the kitsune's back, its angle matching perfectly with the scar on its chest.

But even with all that, there was one thing that caught his fullest attention…something that stood out from all the rest.

The eyes!

Such amazing liquid blue orbs, practically glowing with the incredible intelligence, wisdom, and unbridled _power_ that this magnificent creature held! Alex found himself completely unable to look away, his gaze locked with the kitsune's as he nearly lost himself within the creature's eyes.

More than anything else, the eyes told him that he was dealing with a creature of _true_ power, one whose power maybe even rivaled that of Amaterasu and the other Brush Gods.

More than anything, the eyes told him that he was standing in the presence of something only legends spoke of…a true quasi-deity.

"I am the voice, the power, and the will of Aku-Hametsu," the kitsune stated, raising his head high as his voice reverberated through the air. "I am Amunae, of the Nine Flames."

* * *

><p>"Look, Oki! I know you're worried, but you have to <em>calm down!"<em>

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? ! How do you expect me to _calm down? !_"

Such was the heated argument between Issun and an incredibly fervent Oki, who was busy throwing together a hodge-podge of various items into his pack. The wolf-man seemed almost possessed, barely paying attention to what he was throwing in as he stormed about his tent back in the now-ramshackle Kusa Village.

"Relax, Fuzz-for-Brains! She's probably just fine down there!"

"And maybe she's lying broken and battered and HALF-DEAD AT THE BOTTOM!" Oki roared, forcing the poncle to step back as the Oina man rushed past and nearly stepped on him.

"You know her as well as I do! Ammy won't let anything like a giant fall kill her!"

"All the more reason for me to go in after her!"

"And what about Tinhead, huh? ! Do you even care about _him_ still? !"

Oki paused for a moment, looking up from his pack, and immediately went back to stuffing it.

Heaving an explosive sigh, Issun rubbed his temple and said, "Look, Oki…I know you care about her safety and all that…but you aren't going to help anyone if you just throw yourself into that pit after her!"

Still no response, as Oki shoved some parchment-wrapped food into his pack.

"What do you think Ammy would want, huh? Do you think she would want you getting yourself killed doing something stupid like this? ? ?"

Oki paused again, this time to look at the paper pamphlet sitting on the ground next to him, with the ink picture of the wolf-goddess in all of her glory.

It seemed to calm him down a bit, as he reverently folded the old sheet of paper up and set it into his pack with the greatest of care.

"If you really care about her Oki, you need to do this the _smart_ _way!_ I know I'm always saying to leap before you think, but this time, I just _know _that it won't work!"

Oki slung the pack over his shoulder and turned to leave the tent, before Issun got in front of him, hopping up and down as fast as he could.

"You're obviously not wanting to think about this, Oki, so let me think about it for you! I'm _sure_ that there's a better, less suicidal way!"

"Issun…get out of my way," Oki warned, his voice tinged with a growl.

"Just _give me a chance to find a better way!"_

"Issun, _move!"_

"Please, Oki…just…please…trust me just this once!" the poncle pleaded.

Oki was about to push past the tiny poncle, when he barely noticed something.

There was moisture lining the edge of Issun's eyes. He never would have noticed, had it not been for the angle of the sun striking the poncle and refracting the light through the liquid that was starting to make its way down the poncle's face.

Issun was crying…he was obviously trying to hold it back, but the tears were drawing streaks down his face nonetheless.

Oki finally realized that Issun was just as worried about Amaterasu and Alex as he was, if not even _more so_…but unlike him, the poncle was still retaining some form of sense. Some form of logic.

"Please, Oki…_please…_" the tiny bug-man pleaded again, wringing his hands together.

There was silence for a few moments, as Oki masked face stared impassively at Issun…

…and then there was a defeated sigh, followed by a soft _whumph_ as Oki dropped his pack to the ground.

"Alright Issun…" he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "…we'll do it your way."

Issun swallowed heavy and wiped his face, his green aura brightening a bit as he managed a faint smile.

"…Thanks, Oki."

The wolf-man grunted in an un-amused fashion as he sat down, the poncle hopping onto his knee in front of his masked face.

"So…where do you propose we start?" Oki asked, crossing his arms.

"Hmm…" Issun began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well obviously, we can rule out going down that pit. Unless there's some kind of ladder or something that leads down there, which I didn't see anything like, it'd be suicide trying to climb down."

"Can you think of any other way down?"

"I dunno…if Alex and Ammy are ok…which I'm sure they are!" he quickly added. "If they're ok, then well…the way I figure it, there's always _something_ at the bottom of giant pits like that. There might be some kind of exit or whatever they could use!"

"Do you know that for sure?" Oki asked in all seriousness.

Issun was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No…but I think I know someone who might be!"

Hopping about excitedly, Issun went over to the tent's opening and quickly gestured for Oki to follow. Intrigued, Oki stood up and followed the rapidly bouncing poncle out into the village tent-town.

* * *

><p>Taking a giant swig of sake from the flask at her side as she sat down for a break, Old Healer Ishi watched with interest as she saw Oki and the bouncing green light normally seen with Amaterasu walking past her to the house that Princess Fuse and her attendants had occupied.<p>

Blacksmith Gizo, breathing heavily and sweating from the work he had been doing to start fixing up some of the other houses, came up next to her as he too watched the pair go by.

"Hmm…now where do you suppose they're going?" the blacksmith asked.

"To see the Princess," Ishi remarked casually, taking another refreshing swig from her flask before popping the cork back into it.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, you two?" a gruff voice said, and both turned to see Susano walking up. "Wolf-boy's hurting. Obviously, he's really feeling the loss of Poochie, so he and the bug are gonna ask Fuse if she knows about any way out of that mountain from below!"

Gizo slowly nodded with the Kamiki Warrior's words, watching as Oki knocked on the door and was promptly let in, Issun now riding on his shoulder.

"Such a terrible loss, with Amaterasu and Alex…" Ishi remarked sadly. "Do you really think there's any way that they survived? Or that those two will find them and lead them to safety?"

Susano shrugged. For all of his unexpected wisdom, the Kamiki Warrior didn't have an answer for that.

* * *

><p>Oki and Issun found Princess Fuse surrounded by her attendants, the whole lot of them engaged in a heated discussion that was obviously over the destruction of the Gale Shrine. Oki had seen with his own eyes the structure getting smashed by a large boulder when the interior of the mountain had begun to collapse on them from the stress of Crimson Helm's and Alex's ki energies colliding…but when he had brought the news to the village, after he and Issun had escaped, he had conveniently left out that little detail.<p>

Alex may or may not have been dead at the moment, but the Oina man still considered the young man a friend, and saw no reason in getting him in trouble with the leading member of the Satomi House.

Seeing the pair approach, Princess Fuse immediately silenced the lot of them before sending them away. Once the room had cleared, save for the three, she waved them over as she sat down in a nearby chair, letting off a stressed sigh as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her kimono with one hand and rested the other atop the head of Tei, the loyal canine refusing to leave her side even with his injuries.

Bowing slightly as he approached, Oki said, "How are you feeling, Head Priestess Fuse?"

"Fine…a little stressed, perhaps…but fine. And it's just 'Fuse' now," she remarked.

"Just Fuse?" Issun piped up. "Whaddya mean, babe?"

"What I mean is, with the destruction of the Gale Shrine, and of the remaining Satomi Power Orbs, my duty as the current head of the Satomi House to uphold and protect the shrine has now officially ended. As such, my titles of 'Head Priestess' and 'Princess' no longer apply, as I can no longer fulfill those duties," she told him.

"Oh…gee…" Issun muttered, sounding a little guilty now. "…sorry to hear that, babe."

She waved it off, managing a small smile. "Do not fret over it, Brave Issun. In truth…I actually find my newfound freedom rather refreshing. Not having that constant weight on my shoulders is a relief, as I am now free to pursue my life as a normal citizen of Nippon."

"Normal citizen? ! What about all your attendants, and your bodyguards?"

"The people of this village still look to me for guidance, and I am happy to provide it, even if there is no position to my name now. As for my loyal bodyguards…" she began, smiling as she looked down to Tei, the dog panting happily as she pet him on the head.

"I have discussed it over with Tei and the others…and they all agree. Although my role as Priestess has ended, I am still a member of the Satomi Household, and as such, they are still sworn to protect me wherever I may go."

Tei barked in agreement, his tail wagging now.

"And where _will_ you go?" Oki asked.

Her light smile became tight-lipped, as she pondered the question.

"Well…ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to become an actor of sorts," she said. "Perhaps, when Kusa Village is rebuilt and its people no longer need my guidance, I will venture to Sei-an City and apply for a position in its recently built Theaterhouse."

"Really?" Issun blurted out, sounding excited. "Well you can count me in for a front-row seat, cause a babe like you will get in no problem! I'll be sure to bring Ammy and Pops and Tinhead and popcorn and…"

Suddenly realizing that two of the people he mentioned were not present, Issun slowly trailed off as the smile dropped right off his face and onto the floor.

"Er, actually…" Oki began, stepping in for Issun. "We came to see you for another reason, concerning Amaterasu and Alex."

Fuse nodded, her face turning grim as she relieved the shock of hearing the pair's news when they had made it back to the village.

"I see…you wish to know if there is some way that they could have survived, and perhaps even escaped the depths of the mountain, I presume?"

Both of them nodded.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she folded her hands in her lap as she looked down at the floor.

"I wish I could tell you…" she said quietly. "I really, _truly_ do…but I hold no knowledge of the shrine's architecture beyond what lies within plain sight. If Alex and Amaterasu even survived the fall…"

"They _did_ survive it! I _know_ they did! C'mon Oki, back me up here!" Issun interrupted.

Clearing his throat slightly, Oki only said, "Is there anything? _Anything _at all that we can use? Drawings, or scrolls that the Satomi House might have been holding?"

"Sadly, not anymore," she replied. "What records there were burned with Kusa Village that night."

A sad look came over her house, the former Priestess truly sympathetic for their cause. "I'm sorry…there is nothing I can do to help you."

Behind his mask, Oki's face twisted into a helpless scowl, the Oina man pacing off to the side in his anxiousness, even as the talkative Issun fell silent.

What were they to do, if even the one person still tied to the Gale Shrine couldn't help them?

"Wait…" Fuse suddenly spoke up, her head rising out of her hand. "…wait! There might be one way, still!"

Oki was over to her in a flash. "What? What is it? !"

"I remember something my late husband Yatsu told me, before his demise at the hands of Crimson Helm a year ago. During a discussion we were having about the records of the Satomi House, I asked him if there were any particularly important records that needed protecting, in the event that our long-standing enemy, Crimson Helm, was to breach the village's defenses that Yatsu maintained."

Standing up and pacing about, the Princess continued as Oki and Issun listened intently.

"He assured me that the most important of records were already kept safe, but he could not tell me where they were as I was not yet the Head Priestess. All he could tell me was one thing: "Only the most stalwart of guardians protects the history of the Satomi House!" I realize now that he was giving me a clue to the location of these records!"

"Ok…so what makes these records so important?" Issun asked.

"Some of the records we had in our care date back hundreds of years, to the time when the Satomi House was founded and the Gale Shrine was first built! If I know my husband, he would have selected mostly from the oldest of records to protect. If we can find something pertaining to the construction of the Gale Shrine, we may find a route that you can use to reach Alex and Amaterasu!"

"Well what are we waiting for, then? !" Issun barked out, hopping about excitedly as his bright green glow was restored with hope. "Let's find these dang scrolls already!"

* * *

><p><strong>Will Oki and Issun find a way into the depths of the mountain? Did Alex and Amaterasu survive? Tune in next time to...<strong>

**Alex: "Meh." *changes channel***

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)**

**Also, I've got more OC pictures up! Be sure to check out my profile for pictures on Amunae and Alex in his hybrid form!**


	24. Past and Present

**Here we are again! I hope everyone had a happy Easter! Not much else to say, other than that I'm a little peeved over this chapter. It's not that it's BAD or anything, I just had a hell of a time figuring out what I wanted to do with it and what direction I wanted to take.**

**Eh, but you don't want to hear me complain. Here you guys and girls go!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23: Past and Present<strong>

"Amunae?"

The large kitsune nodded.

"_You're_ Amunae?"

Another nod.

"The Amunae that I heard of when Aku-Hametsu possessed me the second time?"

"No."

The unexpected answer caught Alex off guard, and the young man stumbled over his next words before trailing off.

"Allow me to explain…" the kitsune began, slightly adjusting the nine long tails that were currently wrapped around the large tree next to him. "Yes, I am Amunae, but you did not hear of me when Aku-Hametsu possessed you…for Aku-Hametsu holds no power of its own beyond the moonsteel it was crafted from. As I said, I am the _voice_, the _power_, and the _will_ of Aku-Hametsu. I am Amunae, the spirit within the blade itself, and as such, _I_ am the being that possessed you. Not the blade."

"You? But…I don't understand!" Alex managed to stutter out, shaking his head in confusion. It wasn't the whole concept of Amunae possessing him that was confusing…it was everything _else_ that he was having trouble understanding.

This place. Amunae's presence here. _Everything._

"As I expected…" the fox said. "This must all be very new to you, I would imagine, considering your upbringing."

"My upbringing? What does that have to do with this?"

"_Everything,"_ Amunae stated. "From the way you were raised, and the things you have experienced throughout your life, you are clearly not used to this sort of thing."

"W-what? ! How would YOU know how I was raised? !" the young man retorted.

The kitsune leaned forward, adjusted his gaze until he was face-to-face with Alex, and the young man once again found himself staring into the deep pools of blue that were the venerable fox's eyes.

"Ever since you found my blade, I have been studying you Alexander. Studying who you are, what you have experienced, and what you may yet become in the coming years," Amunae stated calmly, a minor smirk finding its way onto his masked face. "And I must admit, you are a _very_ interesting individual, Alexander, having lived a life that is nothing like those before you. These past several weeks for me have not been boring ones."

"What do you mean? ! Are you going through my head or something?"

"I would not put it in such crude terms…but essentially, yes."

"Jesus Christ…" Alex muttered, putting a hand to his forehead and turning away from Amunae.

"Would you like me to write it down for you, so you may understand this better?" the kitusne offered, sounding completely serious as Alex turned back to face him with an apprehensive look.

"I just…" he began "I just can't wrap my head around all this! Just what the hell is going on here? ! Just what exactly are you doing here, and what's with all _this?"_ he demanded, gesturing to the tree, the whole plain around them, and the general direction of where the forest once was with his arms.

"If you will calm yourself, I will tell you," Amunae stated.

"Calm myself? You expected me to just _calm down_ after all these bombshells you've just dropped on me? !"

"Yes."

Amunae's frankness and stoicism proved a hard wall for which Alex's demanding apprehension was futile against, and the young man soon realized that he had little choice but to follow the kitsune's words.

Taking several steadying breaths as he looked down at the ground, Alex raised his hands up in front of him as if he meant to say something, but then let them drop back down to his sides.

"Fine…" he whispered at last, refusing to meet the kitsune's gaze again.

"Then come with me," Amunae stated, rising up to his full height and creating a slight breeze as he silently padded down the slope of the hill, Alex reluctantly following while staring at the nine long tails that streamed out behind the fox.

"To begin…I understand that you know a few things about the Takeda clan?" Amunae stated, as the two of them slowly made their way towards the bank of the large river near the tree.

"A little…at least, what I heard from Oki."

"Ah yes, the Oina warrior…you are lucky to have him as an ally, Alexander, for few are more sturdy than the wolf-folk of Northern Kamui."

"Wait…you know about him?"

"Of course. You did not think that my sight is only limited to what you see here, directly around you?"

"Well…kind of, but…just where is HERE exactly?" Alex asked.

"Patience, young one. You will know soon."

"_Young one? Great…now he's being mysterious AND condescending…"_ Alex thought, before saying, "Ok…then what do the Takeda have to do with this? Why are you asking me about them?"

"I ask because I merely want to confirm that you remember what your friend told you about them. You _do_ remember, do you not?"

"Some of it…they were allied with a bunch of forest kitsune, which gave them wealth and prosperity, right up until both of them were wiped out by Orochi and the other demons?"

The kitsune nodded, sitting down on his haunches as they reached the bank of the large river. "That is the gist of it, yes…but as I said before, there is more than what meets the eye in Nippon."

"What do you mean?"

"Look into the river, and I will show you what once was."

Alex gave the kitsune a doubtful look, but walked up to the bank and looked into the gently flowing water.

One of Amunae's white-tipped tails slowly wandered into his vision, as the very tip of it dipped into the water's surface.

And suddenly, the river froze. Not with ice, but just simply_ froze in place_, as ripples began to radiate out from the tip of Amunae's tail and began smoothing out the rough surface, trapped in mid-flow, until a large patch of the water's surface had become as smooth and flawless as glass.

On the surface of this glass-like patch of water, an image began to form.

"This is what once was…how the blade known as Aku-Hametsu came to be," Amunae said, retracting his tail as an undeniably intrigued Alex leaned forward to see what was there.

And without another word, the fox brought the long appendage about and smacked Alex across the back with it, knocking the young man off balance and into the water.

* * *

><p>"So where d'ya think we're gonna find those records, babe?" Issun asked, as him, Oki, Fuse, and several of her attendants gathered in the Kusa Village tent-town.<p>

"Honestly, I do not know, Brave Issun," she answered, as she pondered the area around her, clearly looking for something that would fit her late husband's clue. "But I think the best course of action would be to start at the bottom of the village and make our way up towards my home at the top."

"'Only the most stalwart of guardians protects the history of the Satomi House…'" the poncle mused from atop Oki's shoulder, as the Oina man also began to look around. "Whaddya think Yatsu meant by that?"

"I would imagine it to be something of a riddle," Oki said, rubbing his chin as Fuse's attendants began to spread out and search. "Obviously, we're looking for something stalwart…tough, unyielding, and perhaps unmoving as well."

"Well I guess we can count the houses out then…" Issun muttered, staring at the blackened husks of the buildings. "Maybe that well in the center of town?"

"It is a thought…but when it comes to the word "stalwart", a well is hardly the first thing that would come to mind, Brave Issun," Fuse answered. "I have a feeling that we are looking for something that could possibly have been here since the village was first built. The well is certainly old, but it is not ancient."

"Hmmm…" the poncle mused, staring at the well and the small windmill structure set atop it that used airpower to bring up the water from below. "…the windmill, then?"

"Perhaps…the windmill would certainly meet the requirements we are searching for. But remember, Yatsu's duty was, first and foremost, the protection of Kusa Village against our long-standing enemy Crimson Helm. I doubt that he would find a large enough portion of time to hide the records anywhere near the windmill before having to return to his vigil, regardless of how safe they would be with the source of the divine wind protecting them…not to mention Crimson Helm's attempts to take over the shrine."

"Well, I can't think of anywhere else then. What about you, Fuzz-for-Brains?" Issun asked, looking over at Oki.

Oki continued to rub his chin as he stared at the well they were standing in front of, looking over the small structure from the miniature windmill on top, to the wooden crossbeam that the rope was wound around, to the stones that formed the main section…

The stones…

"Yatsu said that only the most stalwart guardian protects the records, yes?" he spoke after a moment, to which Fuse nodded in confirmation.

"Then tell me…can you think of a guardian that is more stalwart, resolute, and unmoving than a solid rock?"

"A rock?" Fuse repeated, putting a sleeved hand to her chin as she became intrigued. "Well, now that you mention it, a rock would fit the criteria as well…but where would such a rock be?"

"Aren't there, like, a bunch of rocks and cobblestones by your house?" Issun suggested.

"Why, yes, I believe so. The two of you bring up a good point! It is certainly worth a try, at least!"

Several minutes later, Fuse's small army of attendants were all armed with a variety of shovels and picks, and were making their way up towards Fuse's home at the top of the village, earning them all a few odd looks as the villagers began to wonder just what on Nippon the group was preparing to do.

"What are they up to?"

"Are they going to tunnel down into the mountain?"

"Whatever they're doing, I just hope they succeed!"

"You and me both…"

Reaching the top of the path and entering the courtyard before Fuse's former home, the wrecked and blackened husk casting a rather forlorn appearance on the area, the group began their work by sizing up each and every rock that appeared large enough to hide something beneath it. Once they had identified all the potential candidates, they then began the true work of digging. Shovels and picks worked in unison as the attendants began to pull up cobblestones and dig around various rocks for the purpose of uprooting them and pushing them over to see what lay beneath them. Oki also assisted in this task, switching to wolf form (which gave Fuse's attendants quite a scare at first) and setting to scooping out large pawfuls of dirt while Issun and Fuse kept watch, their eyes searching the unearthed ground for anything out of the ordinary.

And they dug and dug and dug, as the sun slowly finished its cycle across the sky and slowly turned it from blue to a warm orange. As the last few hours remaining in the day passed by, the attendants dropped out of the work one by one, too tired or hungry to continue. Soon, only a handful remained with Wolf-Oki, the blue and red furred wolf showing no signs of slowing as he continued to uproot stones and dig with an unrelenting fervor.

And there was no sign of the records, even as the courtyard slowly turned into a hole-ridden, rock-strewn mess. As sunset slowly turned to night, Fuse eventually sent away most of her attendants, but kept several around to bear lanterns as she continued to watch the wolf-man and her most hardy of attendants continuing to dig around.

Issun watched Wolf-Oki work, the Oina warrior's long tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted from exertion, the saliva in his muzzle glistening in the faint lantern light. As another attendant ground to a halt in his work, Issun noticed that the wolf hardly took notice, only moving to pick up the slack that the man had left…and the poncle began to grow worried that Oki would work himself into unconsciousness if they allowed him to continue.

"Hey, Fuzz-for-Brains…" he said after a few minutes, once the last of the still-working attendants had finally dropped out and gone back to the tent-town. "Maybe you should stop for now. I don't think you're going to find those records by yourself."

No answer, as the wolf kept digging.

"Hey! Oki! Can you hear me? I said you should take a break!"

"No time for breaks. Keep digging!" the wolf panted out, sounding severely exhausted and yet continuing to dig at a breakneck pace.

"OKI!" the poncle yelled, now feeling genuinely worried for the Oina warrior as he hopped onto the wolf's head and began jumping up and down as hard as he could. "For the Brush Gods' sakes, _STOP!"_

"No…time…!" Oki panted out, scraping out another pawful of dirt, his blue fur thoroughly caked a dirty, muddy brown.

He would have likely continued this through the night, had Issun not jumped down onto his muzzle and grabbed ahold of both his upper eyelids, essentially forcing the wolf-man to pay attention to him.

"Oki…" the poncle muttered, in as even a voice as he could manage, while Fuse watched with concern from the side. _"Calm. The heck. Down."_

His paw held out in mid-stroke, with every muscle in his body tensed, Wolf-Oki's eyes peered searchingly at Issun…and the poncle could clearly see the barely withheld emotion that was coursing through the wolf at that moment.

"We'll find them, Oki…just…not now," he said in a low voice.

Whether he was referring to the records or the missing companions was unclear…but it had the desired effect, nonetheless. The wolf's body slowly loosened as the tension in his muscles was released, and his tired head dipped down as saliva began to drip from his open muzzle and onto the ground.

Panting hard, the wolf managed a quiet, "…sorry..." as he lay down.

Issun didn't miss the sad, disheveled look in the wolf's eyes. And neither did Fuse, as the former priestess crouched down beside the two and placed her hand reassuringly on Wolf-Oki's large paw.

"Aw…don't apologize, you lunkhead," Issun muttered. "If I were you, I probably would have done the same thing."

Heaving a tired sigh as he glanced at Fuse, he said, "Look, we've all had it rough today, with Crimson Helm, the cave-in, and this to boot. We should get some rest tonight and try again tomorrow."

"Indeed," Fuse said. "It was a good idea, searching the rocks within the village, but perhaps Yatsu simply meant something different by what he said. Regardless, we won't know until we try every available possibility."

Oki remained silent, still staring at the ground, before saying, "…How can you be sure that we'll find the answer in time?"

"Don't sweat it, Fuzz-for-Brains…" Issun answered, as the wolf-man transformed back into human form and stood up, slowly walking back towards the village with Fuse at his side and Issun upon his shoulder. "For all we know, the answer could be right under our noses! We just gotta look harder, and- GACK!"

Issun's words were cut off when Oki, his dexterity hampered by his exhaustion, suddenly slipped on the rounded edge of a hastily dug hole and fell in sideways. Hearing Fuse gasp in surprise, he also suddenly heard a loud _'crunch!'_ as he hit bottom.

But it wasn't the sound of his leg breaking…it was the sound of _wood_ breaking.

Rushing over to the edge of the hole, Fuse and her lantern-bearing attendants found the Oina man suspended of some kind of newly exposed opening of sorts, gripping onto the edge of the large hole's opening while Issun held onto the fabric of his vest for dear life. Quickly grabbing hold and pulling the wolf-man up, they all looked in…and subsequently saw what the Oina man had unintentionally revealed.

Where there was once thought to be just dirt, there was now a large and darkened opening in the ground, ringed by the jagged edges of what appeared to have once been some kind of wooden trapdoor…buried several feet beneath the surface of the ground they were standing on, and fairly aged by the looks of it, if the dust pouring through the unearthed hole was any indication.

"By the gods…" one of the attendants whispered. "One of two more feet of digging and we would have found it…"

"Heh…way to go, Fuzz-for-Brains!" Issun chortled. "Good thing you're so heavy, huh?"

The Oina man didn't respond, choosing instead to look over to Fuse and take note of the confused scowl that was marring the delicate features on her face.

"Yatsu…" she whispered. "…what on Nippon were you hiding?"

"Well, it looks like this is it!" Issun yelled, taking no notice of Fuse's confusion. "Whaddya say we head down and find where Yatsu was keeping these scrolls? !"

A second more of staring, and the Oina man nodded, his determination showing even through his mask.

"I've got enough in me for another good dig," he answered.

"Alright then! Let's go!"

"Wait!" Fuse suddenly cried out, and Oki, back in his wolf form, suddenly stopped with a forepaw and hindpaw suspended in midair, him and the poncle on his head staring at her curiously.

"I'm coming with you."

"_HUH?"_ Issun belted out. "B-but…Babe! You sure about that? It's probably really dangerous down there, and-!"

"I am aware of the possible risks, Brave Issun…but this is something that I must do as well. If the history of the Satomi House is down there, than it is my duty as the former Head Priestess, and as the last member of my house to see them to safety. Also…" she added, looking back to the hole in front of them, ignoring her attendants who were trying to convince her to stop at the moment.

"I do not know why Yatsu would go to such lengths to hide these records…they are important, yes…but I cannot fathom why they would be so important so as to necessitate _this,"_ she said, gesturing to the trapdoor-hole in front of them, nearly seven feet below the surface of the ground they were standing on.

"I am going with you, because I want – no, I NEED – to see what my late husband was trying to protect, even if that means putting my life at risk with whatever hazards that may lie within," she finished.

Issun was quiet for a moment, clearly torn between wanting to help Fuse and protect her…to be a gentleman, or a guardian.

Fortunately, Oki was there to make the decision for him.

"If that is what you want…then get on," he answered, crouching down low for her.

She smiled and nodded in thanks, walking up to the wolf and sitting down upon his back. Waiting until she had a good grip, he stood up strong and, with a determined growl, leapt into the hole…and into the darkness within.

_Several minutes later…_

(_Okami OST – Digging Deeper_)

"Babe…BABE! Watch out for the pointy rocks!"

"Goodness! What on Nippon would Yatsu need with all these obstacles? !"

"You got me! Just go around them for now! Or better yet, let Oki carry you!"

"Where is he? I cannot see down here for the life of me!"

"Huh…that's funny…it always seemed brighter in these places with Ammy around…"

_Shoof, shoof, shoof…_

"HEY! He's over here! I can hear him digging!"

"I'll be right over, just as soon as I…!"

_SPLASH!_

"_Oh my goodness!_ Where did this pool of water come from?"

"Oh, jeez…Oki! Need a hand here!"

"_Now I see why Amaterasu hated doing this so much…"_ the wolf grumbled to himself, his forehead aching as he slammed it into yet another giant dirt clod in his path.

* * *

><p>Coming to the surface with a loud <em>sploosh<em>, Alex coughed and sputtered as he treaded water, spitting out curses along with river water from Amunae unexpectedly pushing him in.

"Ok, now what the hell was that for? !" he yelled, swimming over to the bank and pulling himself up onto shore. "I've got half a mind to-!"

He suddenly stopped, as he looked up and took in his surroundings.

"_Oh great…"_ he thought. _"NOW where the hell am I?"_

From the looks of things, he had come up into yet another forest setting…only this time, it was dark out. Peering upward through the tree branches, Alex caught sight of stars and a brightly glowing full moon in the sky above, telling him beyond a doubt that it was nighttime. He could hear crickets chirping softly in the distance, mixing with the pleasant burble of the small but deep river that he had come out of and a cool evening wind that gently stirred the trees around him.

"Uh…Amunae…?" he asked.

No answer.

"_Perfect…"_

Shaking the water off himself as best he could, he decided to start walking again for lack of any other options available to him at the moment. Hugging his arms and huddling inward as the cool wind began to chill his wet body, Alex shivered slightly as he tromped through the forest on his uncomfortable hike, following the beams of moonlight that were filtering through the tree branches and lighting his path just enough for him to see.

"_Ok…so far, this isn't making any sense," _he thought as he walked. _"I wake up in a place that I STILL don't know the location of, meet some ginormus kitsune who keeps trying to play twenty questions with me, all before he knocks me into the river and somehow teleports me to God knows where…"_

On an impulse, he reached down to the exposed part of his flesh where Crimson Helm's sword had sliced open the leather padding of his armor, and pinched himself _hard._

"_Nope…"_ he thought, wincing. _"I'm not dreaming…"_

Passing through a thick patch of growth, his eyes suddenly spotted lights up ahead.

"_Looks like some kind of fire…torchlights, maybe?"_ he thought, squinting for a better look. _"But…that can't be right…last time I checked, fire doesn't glow purple…"_

He briefly considered going in a different direction, but another gust of cold wind against his wet skin changed his mind. Where there was fire, there was warmth…and warmth was _exactly_ what he needed right now.

"_Crap…I've got a bad feeling about this,"_ he thought, as he started walking again.

Never taking his eyes off the purple glowing flames in the distance, Alex slowly came closer and closer to them, growing slightly more apprehensive when he finally drew within several feet of them…and subsequently noticed that the fires weren't attached to anything.

They were suspended in midair, simple balls of purple-colored fire just hanging there and burning quietly, occasionally flaring up slightly from the wind, but otherwise doing nothing other than casting a ghostly sort of flickering, faintly tinted light across the multitude of tree trunks around them.

"_Wait…I've seen this kind of fire before…"_ he thought, carefully approaching the small fireball. _"But where…?"_

He snapped his fingers as the answer came to him: Ren. He distinctly remembered the incident where the seven-tailed fox had messed with him by making it seem like he had accidentally stolen something of his, creating similar purple flames at the tips of each of his tails and advancing on him menacingly before Miyu made him knock it off.

"_That damn fox, trying to mess with me when I told him how I found Aku-Hametsu…scared the bejeezus out of me,"_ Alex thought, shaking his head. _"Well, at least I know what this is now…but if this is fox-fire, then…is there a kitsune nearby?"_

As if to confirm his question, he suddenly heard voices speaking up ahead. Muffled by distance, Alex couldn't make out any of the words…but he could definitely tell that they were getting closer. Worried that he might be intruding on something, and not wanting to face the wrath of another potentially angry kitsune after his experience with Ren, Alex looked around quickly for a place to hide, before remembering that he had something to aid with that already.

Retreating to the edge of the fox-fire's light, Alex grabbed the edges of the Spidersilk Cloak around his neck and pulled it over his shoulders, throwing on the hood for good measure. Watching carefully, he saw the nearby shadows of the forest suddenly reached out towards him, covering him and making it appear as though the trailing edge of his cloak had simply merged with them. Hoping that it would be enough to hide him, Alex pressed himself against a nearby tree trunk and waited.

Soon enough, Alex spotted the silhouettes to two humanoid figures coming into view of where he hid. Revealed to him as they came into the ghostly light cast by the ball of fox-fire, Alex immediately saw that one of them was wearing kitsune mask, its face shaped to have a rather stern and un-amused expression upon it. Wearing a dark green men's kimono that matched the color of tree leaves, with messy light brown hair reaching down his back, the masked man stood at nearly equal height to the man next to him.

The second man wore a blue-colored, more casual looking men's kimono, and seemed to carry himself with a slight air of swagger, even though Alex could see the hardened determination in the man's eyes, hidden just beneath the surface. The hair on his head and face were white and his complexion was slightly wrinkled, both sure signs of the man's age…but he had a wizened look on his face that only many years could bring, and he stood tall and straight with an almost youthful vigor.

"Tell me again why we're out here, Chieftain Daichi," the old man said.

"You know exactly why I called you out here this night, Takeda Isamu," the masked man, Daichi, said.

"Enlighten me…" Isamu muttered, sitting down at the base of one of trees.

Daichi slightly adjusted his mask and folded his arms behind his back, before letting off what sounded like a slightly irritated sigh.

"As I am sure that you are well aware, with your clan having lived alongside my tribe for so long, we kitsune can live for a _very_ long period of time…so long, that, should fate allow it, we can bear witness to the rise and fall of entire empires, see trees grow tall and strong before eventually being cut down, and learn a thousand and more pieces of knowledge from all the books and scrolls in the world."

"Mmm-hmm…" Isamu said, rolling his hand around in a _"get on with it" _sort of way.

Casting a stern look at the human, Daichi continued. "But even we kitsune have a limit to how long our time on Nippon is…when our knowledge reaches its peak, when we achieve our omniscience at nine hundred years of age…"

"And…so begins the Twilight…" Isamu cut in, his impatience having suddenly given way to slight confusion. "The period of a kitsune's life in which the fox's memories and knowledge begin to slowly collapse inward, and his mind begins a downward spiral into eventual madness…unless, of course, he accepts that his time has come. I know of this "condition" of your kind, Daichi. Why are you telling me this?"

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Comet_)

The masked man turned away from him, not meeting his gaze.

"Oh…" the old man said, realization crossing his features as he finally understood. "It's…it's happening for you, isn't it?"

"…I am afraid so, old friend…" Daichi confirmed. "I have grown old, Isamu…so old that I am beginning to feel the crushing weight of my age on my shoulders…a weight that grows heavier with each passing day. I fear the time for my Passing will come soon, which is why I brought you out here…to warn you that things may become…'chaotic' for you and your heir in the near future."

"I see…" Isamu muttered. "…how long do you think you have?"

"Half a year…a full one at the most, before I begin to feel the effects."

"And have you taken the necessary precautions?"

"Yes, yes, it's all taken care of…" Daichi quickly answered, waving his hand dismissively. "My eldest son will take control of the Mori Tribe after my Passing. I will leave everything to him."

"Are you certain he is ready?"

"Of course he is!" Daichi snapped, to which Isamu simply stared at him with a perfectly neutral look on his face.

"Ah…forgive the outburst, Isamu…" Daichi said apologetically, his features softening. "These past few years have not been easy on me, what with the demons and the Black Hand becoming more aggressive as of late."

"_Demons? Black Hand?"_ Alex thought, questions filling his mind. What in the world was happening that these two were aware of?

"I know…" Isamu said. "I'm feeling it too. We're both getting old, Daichi. Too old for our work."

"Truer words have never been spoken, old friend," Daichi answered, finally smiling for once as he looked back to Isamu.

"And…what of your mate?" Isamu asked after a moment.

"She already knows. I have told her everything, and she is working hard to prepare my eldest son for his ascension to chieftain-hood."

"And your friend, Amunae? What about him?"

Alex, still hidden in the background, took a step forward in intrigue.

"Amunae…" Daichi whispered. "My dearest friend, always at my side during all these long centuries…I have yet to tell him, although I suspect that he may already know. Quite the perceptive one, he is."

"Of course he's perceptive. He has to be!" Isamu said. "He's a blacksmith, the best one I've ever seen, outdoing that of even the Emperor's royal smiths!"

"_Amunae…a blacksmith?"_ Alex thought, frowning as he thought the new bit of information over.

"Speaking of Amunae, I haven't seen head or tail of him for several days now. What's the old fox up to?" Isamu asked.

"You're asking _me_ this?" Daichi responded.

"Of couse. It's your business to know as chieftain _and_ his friend, correct?"

Daichi's masked face smirked slightly. "If you _must_ know, he is at his forge, preparing something special to present to you on the day of the festival."

"Oh? And what is this item of question?" Isamu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If I told you that, it would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?" Daichi retorted, a mischievous grin on his mask-face.

"Oh fine, keep your secrets you haggard old fox!" Isamu laughed, to which Daichi also joined in on.

But it wasn't long before the kitsune-man's masked face turned serious again.

"For now…" he whispered, "…I just plan to enjoy what time I have left…before I leave it all behind."

"Don't worry about it, Daichi…" Isamu said, standing up and walking over to put a hand on Daichi's shoulder. "I may have only known you for a few decades, but I can tell that you've lived a long and full life. The least you deserve is a good long rest after everything you've done…after all the help you've given my clan. You won't be forgotten in our eyes."

Daichi smiled again, the corner of his mask's muzzle turning upward.

"Thank you, Isamu…you've been a good friend to me these past few decades…and it has been an honor working alongside you and your clan."

"The honor was all mine…friend."

"_So Amuane's a blacksmith, preparing something special for a festival?" _Alex thought, watching as the two men slowly walked back into the forest. _"Well…I guess that's where I'll head next…it's not like I have anywhere else to go, wherever the heck I am."_

Making sure that he was still hidden by his cloak, Alex walked into the forest after the man and kitsune, doing what he could to try and move as silently as possible as he followed them to wherever they were going.

"_What was all that business about the 'Twilight' and the 'Passing'?"_ he thought, as he went over what he had learned from the pair's conversation. _"The way they were talking about it, it sounded as if Daichi was getting ready to die or something…but how could he be so sure about the timing on it? Guess that's why I'm not a kitsune…"_

Thinking it over in his mind, Alex wasn't paying attention when he and the two men he was following suddenly stepped into a pool of light…and the shadows hiding him suddenly retreated.

* * *

><p>Standing over the hole where the wolf, poncle, and former priestess had vanished into, Fuse's few remaining attendants watched with baited breath as they awaited the group's return.<p>

"Do…do you think they ran into trouble?" one of the attendants spoke up. "They've been down there for quite some time…"

"I'm not sure…I've never been in a cave before…"

"I'm sure they're fine!"

"How would YOU know? !"

"I just do, alright? !"

"Listen…just because you THINK you know something, doesn't mean that it's actually tr-!"

_GRUNCH!_

The attendants all let out a chorus of horrified screams as they collectively jumped back from the sound of a heavy wooden chest being pushed through the broken remains of the sub-terrain trapdoor. They quickly managed to regain their senses, however, grabbing onto one end of the elaborate looking container and all pulling at once.

First the chest came up, followed immediately by a thoroughly exhausted and dirt-covered Wolf-Oki, his blue and red fur now a very distinct shade of muddy brown as he held onto the other end of the chest with his jaws. Next came Issun, riding atop the wolf's head, and also covered in a thick coating of dried dirt that even diminished his bright green glow. Lastly, Fuse took up the rear, holding onto the wolf's tail for dear life, her beautiful kimono thoroughly ruined by a combination of being soaked through with water and covered in dirt stains that would _never_ come out.

"Never…again…" Issun wheezed, dust pouring from his mouth with every cough.

* * *

><p><strong>Gonna say it now...I just LOVED writing in the little bit with the digging minigame music.<strong>

**Anyways, rate, review, and I'll see you next time!**


	25. Buried Secrets

**Confound this procastination! It drives me to drink! *chugs sake like Mister Orange***

**Yes, well...you ever have one of those chapters in your stories that you just couldn't bring yourself to write? Like, you loose all of your steam at the worst possible time? This was one of those chapters. Don't worry, though...I've got my steam back now, and this chapter won't disappoint. It IS a little description-heavy, though, so watch out for that.**

**And we're off!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24: Buried Secrets<strong>

"_Uh oh…"_ Alex thought, his breath catching in his throat as he suddenly realized that he was totally exposed.

He had walked right into a pool of light without looking. And now, the Spidersilk Cloak's effects had vanished right in front of the two men he had been following…and what looked like a crapload of their personal guards.

Roughly half of them were what looked to be human soldiers, all of them wearing armor and carrying a variety of swords, polearms, and torches, which were casting off the light that filled the clearing. The other half were unmistakably more kitsune, a rather large variety of tail numbers between them, but all of them looking rather tough and battle tested if the number of scars and tribal markings in their fur were any indication.

For a second, no one made a move.

"Well then…I believe it is time I went back home. Goodnight, Chieftain Daichi," Isamu said, moving to join what were clearly the men under his command.

"And a good night to you as well, Takeda Isamu," the masked man replied, suddenly shifting in front of them all to the form of a rather large, lightly brown-furred kitusne…not as big as Amunae had been, but still bearing the nine tails that had been suggested by his apparent age, from the conversation he had just had with Isamu. There were elaborate markings in his fur, similar to the ones that his guards had, but far more intricate and entwining in design.

None of them had taken notice of Alex, who was standing out in the wide open in front of all of them with no cover whatsoever.

"_Are…are they not able to see me…?"_ he slowly came to realize, finally unclenching his jaw after a few extremely tense seconds.

The chieftain kitsune slowly padded off into the trees, followed closely by his guards, and Alex stood there watching Isamu as the elderly man went over to his group, hearing him say to the man standing in front, "Now honestly, Makoto, do you really think this many guards is necessary?"

"Can't be too careful, my lord."

Isamu heaved an annoyed sigh, pinching his nose between his fingers. "Makoto, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times…I have no enemies here, in the middle of a forest filled with a bunch of foxes and their all-knowing, all-seeing mumbo jumbo!"

"If I may speak freely, my lord…"

"You may."

"My lord, my family has protected yours for generation upon generation. It is a tremendous honor for us to protect you…and as such, it would be a tragedy to me and my family if something were to happen to you on my watch."

Another annoyed sigh from Isamu, before he eventually said, "I know, Makoto…I suppose that's why your my top retainer, eh? Always looking out for me…"

"Yes, my lord…until the end of my days, at which point, my son will take my place."

"And may he show the same devotion and effort that you do…but enough rambling, Makoto. It's time we got home, for my wife is probably wondering where I am right now…" Isamu muttered tiredly.

The group slowly made their way into the forest as well, and Alex suddenly remembered where he was going next, taking off into the forest in the direction that Daichi and his entourage had gone.

Spotting the group of kitsune ahead, Alex slowed down and matched their pace as they weaved in and out of the trees, taking note of the highly alert foxes that had taken up position around their leader, watching for any movement that was out of the ordinary. To the young man, that only proved the fact that, apparently, no one could see him. If he were 'visible', Daichi's guards would have likely spotted him or at least sniffed him out by now.

"_If I follow these guys, they'll probably lead me straight to Amunae…or at least, the Amunae from wherever this 'place' is," _he thought._ "I have a feeling that whatever the heck he's showing me here has something to do with Aku-Hametsu…he DID mention something about how the sword 'came to be', right before he shoved me into the river."_

Following the group of kitsune deeper into the forest, Alex began to catch sight of more fox-fire in the air…very few of them at first, but eventually becoming more and more common as the group pressed onwards. Soon, Alex began to hear voices in the distance…followed by the unexpected sight of what appeared to be some kind of _treehouse,_ built into the branches of one of the taller, thicker trees with some kind of vine-ladder hanging down from the edge of it.

It was rather simple in design, and it only seemed capable of housing a handful of people…but what really caught Alex's attention was how it seemed to just blend into the surrounding leaves and branches that it was built within.

It blended so well, in fact, that if he didn't know any better, Alex could have sworn that the structure had simply been _grown_ out of the tree…

It wasn't long before he spotted another of the strange dwellings…and several more after that, all of them clustered together and connected by what seemed to be simple rope bridges, made from rough-hewn wooden planks and wound together by more of the vines. And all along the way, he continued to see more and more of the violet-colored balls of fox-fire, illuminating their path and bringing light to the nighttime forest.

That was when it hit him. They had to be heading straight for the central dwelling place of the 'Mori Tribe' the Daichi had mentioned…the so called 'village' that the kitsune was chieftain of.

"_If Daichi's right – and I have no reason to doubt him so far – then Amunae is a part of it…which confirms that he knew the Takeda Clan when they were still around!"_ he realized, as pieces began to fall into place. _"Amunae's making something for the current head of the Takeda – which is apparently Isamu – for some kind of festival that the two groups are having…I still don't know anything about it, but if Amunae is making something for Isamu, then it proves that he's worked with them before, too! That must have been why he asked me what I knew about them…"_

As they continued to move deeper into the village, Alex began to see more kitsune of varying age and tails. Moving out of the way of their cheiftain's procession, they bowed low or otherwise gave a curt nod to the nine-tailed fox as he went past, and Alex got a good look at them all as he trailed behind the group.

(_Spice and Wolf OST – Hikaru Wadachi_)

Even though it was night out, the village was bustling, as Alex soon realized. Looking around, Alex could see the spiderweb of vine-rope bridges weaving though the treetops, interconnecting all of the tree houses that could be seen within the canopy. Every direction he turned, he could see more and more kitsune wandering about, some of them still as foxes and others in their human forms with their masks on. The ones in human form were most all seen carrying some kind of burden, ranging from baskets of various foods to what seemed to be decorations of some kind, as they made their way across the railing-less vine bridges without seeming to care about the possibility of losing their balance and falling.

They were getting ready for _something_, Alex realized. Most likely, it was the festival that had been alluded to in Isamu and Daichi's conversation…whatever this so-called festival was about, however, continued to evade Alex.

As they kept walking, he saw one large fox, a five-tail, herding along a group of one-tailed kitsune like cattle, calling out one's name harshly when the youngster stopped to stare at the chieftain's procession going by. He also saw two more in their masked human forms, as a man and a woman, the latter laughing as the former mischievously chased her around a tree and further off into the forest. And even more, as a large and older looking fox spoke in hushed, dramatic tones of voice, as he told an epic tale to a group of wide-eyed kits that were arranged around him like an audience in a theater.

Figuring that it couldn't hurt, as Daichi seemed to have stopped to chat with another nearby fox, Alex decided to listen in as the old fox told his tale.

"So there I was…surrounded by a crowd of hungry imps!" he whispered loudly, flaring his tails out for dramatic effect as the youngsters around him gasped. "Their faces, nothing but sinister scrolls bearing the mark of _demons_ upon them! Their fangs, dripping with wretched saliva in anticipation of the meal they would make of me! Their weapons, crude and rough, clenched tightly by clawed hands and raised to strike!"

Several tiny gasps.

"Yeah? _Yeah?_ And what happened next? !" one the kits squeaked, the anticipation clear in her voice.

"_I struck, fast as lightning!"_ the older fox exclaimed, leaping up as he grabbed a nearby stick off the ground with one of his dexterous tails and began waving it around like a sword. "Left and right, up and down, this way and that! They all came at me at once, but I would not be deterred! Oh no! My sword flashed in all directions and sliced them to pieces! My jaws clamped down on their fragile bodies, rending demon flesh and breaking bones! I was a whirlwind of destruction to ALL of demon kind!"

"Wow!"

"Amazing!"

The older kitsune began to leap about, swinging the stick-sword in various directions and rapidly stabbing it in others as he continued. "And try and hit me as they might, they simply could not land a single blow! Speed and illusion worked in tandem as I danced throughout their numbers, slashing and biting and crushing them beneath my paws! _I was UNSTOPPABLE!"_

"Yaaaay!"

"Show them who's boss!"

"One after another, they fell! Their bodies piling up until they had to struggle over them to get at me! Over and over, they came, and over and over they fell, until none were left to challenge me!"

Finishing his impromptu display, the kitsune managed a quick bow to a chorus of cheers before settling onto all fours again and tossing the stick aside, as he tried his best to disguise his heavy breathing in an effort that made Alex smirk.

"And that…*pant*…is how Warrior Akio…*wheeze*…saved the day!"

"Yaaay!"

"Awesome!"

"Tell us another, Warrior Akio!" came the all-too-expected replies.

"Ah, I would, but…*pant*…I do believe that it's your bedtime now, young ones," the older fox said.

"Awwwww!" came the chorus of disappointed moans, making Alex chuckle.

"_Well, it looks like they've got it pretty nice here at least, considering that they're busy fighting the demons and whatever the heck this 'Black Hand' is," _he thought, as he watched the crowd slowly disperse.

The smile on his face slowly went away, however, as he fell deeper into thought.

"_That name, 'Black Hand'…it keeps coming up. First, it was those voices I heard from when Aku-Hametsu…I mean Amunae…possessed me the second time, and then it was Isamu and Daichi's conversation. Speaking of Daichi…"_ he quickly thought, looking up and realizing that the kitsune chieftain's procession had moved on without him.

"_Oh great…NOW how am I gonna find Amunae in all this?"_ he thought, throwing his arms up in frustration as he anxiously whipped his gaze around. It was a complete maze within the kitsune village, with tree houses on nearly every one of the giant plants, and a web of vine-rope bridges interconnecting them all. All of it seemed to blend into the background with remarkable efficiency, making Alex unsure of which direction was which anymore.

"_Ok Alex, stay calm and think about this. Amunae…the one you talked to…wouldn't be showing you all of this if he wanted to screw you up. But how am I gonna find my way through all of this to the 'other' Amunae if no one can see or hear me?"_

Reflecting on what he had seen and heard so far, he suddenly found his answer with another snap of his fingers.

"_They said Amunae's a blacksmith, right? While I don't know how relevant that profession is to kitsune, I DO know from personal experience that working at the forge makes a ton of noise. All I have to do is listen for the hammer strokes or the evaporating water and I should be able to find him!"_

Straining his ears, he tried to block out the sounds of all the activity around him as he listened intently for the appropriate sounds.

_Clang, clang, clang…hisssss!_

"_Gotcha…" _he thought triumphantly, patting himself on the back for his stroke of genius before immediately setting off in the direction of the sound.

* * *

><p>After several much-needed baths involving copious amounts of water, soap, scrub brushes, and a fresh change of clothes, the small group comprised of Oki, Issun, and Fuse were back in her temporary house, sitting around the large and dirt-ridden chest that they had toiled for the better part of the day to find.<p>

At the moment, it was quiet…quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop.

None of them made a move for now, as three pairs of eyes stared at the chest before them. Fuse, on the left, twiddled her thumbs nervously as Oki simply sat and stared unblinkingly from her right. Issun was fiddling with the large, dirt-encrusted padlock that held the chest closed for now, occasionally cursing as he thought he had it before subsequently ruining the attempt at prying the lock off or at least popping it open by messing with the innards of it.

"Do you think this holds what we need?" Oki said after a moment, not paying attention to the noises Issun was making.

_Thump._ "Dang…"

Fuse simply shrugged, unable to answer from all of her nervousness at the prospect of handling the last remaining pieces of history from the Satomi House.

_Thud. _"Dang!"

"We won't know for sure until we open it," the Oina man continued, clearly trying to both convince and reassure her.

_Thud! _"Dangit!"

She nodded wordlessly, continuing to twiddle her thumbs.

_Thump! _"Son of a - !"

"Well…shall we begin, then?" he asked.

_Thud! _"GRRRRR….!"

A pause from Fuse…and she eventually nodded again.

Oki stood up and walked over to the chest, grabbing Issun and moving the furious poncle to his shoulder before unsheathing his own sword. Angling it downward, he jammed it into the space between the lock and the latch and began to push down on the weapon-turned-crowbar, his muscles straining as he put his back into it.

The old metal padlock let off a groan, before a loud _'CRACK!'_ shot through the room as it snapped off. With a satisfied grunt, Oki reached down and removed the broken lock, tossing it aside as an intrigued Fuse moved up next to him. With a nod, the both of them placed their hands on the lid and pushed it open, spilling out a cloud of ancient dust and dirt into the room and making the group cough as they waved it away.

Once the air had cleared, they all peered inside and were subsequently met with the sight of dozens of tightly rolled up scrolls, all of them varying in thickness and all of them appearing to be very old. Lines of dirt filled the spaces in between each one, serving as a reminder to how long they had been buried beneath Kusa Village, and it was with tentative hands that Oki and Fuse picked up the first few, the Oina man placing one on the ground and unrolling it for Issun.

With an encouraging nod to Fuse, Oki opened his and began to scan over the document, followed in turn by the former priestess.

It started off as being somewhat interesting, at least: there was clearly a lot of history within the ancient writing on the scrolls, telling about the Satomi House's various ancestors, what their major feats were during their lifetimes, and what they contributed to Kusa Village and the Gale Shrine during the time that they held position as the current head of the house. It also showed the circumstances under which Kusa Village was first built, how it withstood the test of time, and how it began to grow into the village they knew today…barring the fact that more recent documents had been consumed by the fire.

Over time, however, as the pile within the chest grew smaller and scrolls began to litter the floor, the group found their task to be increasingly arduous. Fuse was constantly fidgeting as her as her back grew sore and her legs began to fall asleep, Oki was becoming agitated over the lack of information that they could actually _use,_ and Issun found himself nodding off at several points from a combination of boredom and lack of sleep.

But they knew that their friends were in danger, and so they continued to slog heroically through the stack as it began to dwindle.

Many hours after they had started, as the first rays of the morning sun began to peek through the nearby window, Issun was snoring contentedly with his cheek plastered against the open face of his current scroll, Oki had gone outside to relive himself (and most likely vent his agitation), and Fuse was still plugging away at scroll after scroll, rings having appeared under her tired eyes as she stifled a yawn and continued.

She could have easily woken some of her attendants and had them help her, but after keeping them up so late and putting them through such exhausting physical labor the night before, she figured that they could use a rest…the thought was extremely tempting, though, as she stifled another tired yawn and set down the scroll she had just now finished.

Still nothing useful. Writings about how one of her ancestors had had an embarrassing incident regarding a dog relieving itself in his boot didn't interest her, or help them in the slightest bit. Sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off an approaching headache, she absentmindedly reached into the chest she was sitting next to and felt around for another scroll.

When she didn't immediately feel one, she curiously looked into the chest after her hand and made the discovery that she was on the very last scroll. Slowly pulling it out as Issun let off another snore that seemed far too loud for his tiny frame to be able to produce, she pondered it for a moment as it sat there in her lap.

At first glance, it was clearly one of the older scrolls that they had pulled from the chest…which made sense, considering that it was at the very bottom. Her late husband Yatsu would have obviously stored the oldest ones first, feeling that they would be the most important ones.

But closer inspection revealed something different. Something that none of the other scrolls had.

There, pasted over the end of the scroll where one would grab to open it, was another tiny slip of paper, looking to be lighter in color and much smoother than that of the scroll itself.

That only meant one thing: it was newer than the scroll…new enough that Yatsu himself could have possibly placed it on there.

Written on the surface of this tiny slip of paper, in Yatsu's handwriting, were several kanji symbols.

Akuma wa hajiku. _Demon repel._

"_Demon repel…? But…why, Yatsu?" _she thought, as she frowned in confusion. _"Why would you need a warding slip for a scroll? What on Nippon were you trying to protect, or hide, from the demons?"_

It was well within Yatsu's power to both write and infuse a warding slip with the necessary power, given his status and position as priest of the Gale Shrine…but why he would need it was beyond her at the moment.

She would have to open the scroll and read it to find out what her late husband had obviously thought was so important…but that meant breaking the seal that had been made with the warding slip.

She wasn't a demon, though…so she had nothing to fear, right?

"_Right?"_ she asked herself.

She was worried when she couldn't answer herself.

"_But if this is what we need…if this holds the information that will lead Oki and Issun to Alex and Amaterasu…then I cannot turn away now,"_ she thought, chewing on her lower lip as she gently, ever-so-gently, slipped her thumb under the bottom edge of the slip of paper.

Squinting her eyes cautiously as she leaned away from the scroll, she braced herself…and slit the paper open with a quiet _snik._

* * *

><p>Deeper and deeper he went into the forest village of kitsune, stopping occasionally to pick up on the telltale sounds of the forge and adjusting his course appropriately. But as he walked, he began to notice something odd…the further in he got, the bigger the trees seemed to be getting.<p>

Not just higher, but bigger around as well, becoming thick enough that Alex now began to see not just treehouses, but actual dwellings on the _ground_.The bases of the tree trunks that were thick enough had been hollowed out and manipulated, to the point where ivy-curtained doors and even the occasional window-like hole could be seen carved into the thick bark.

But again, Alex got the impression that the dwellings had more been grown _into_ the trees rather than carved out. The edges of the "windows" and "doors" were too rounded and natural looking to have simply been carved out…and it was becoming increasingly apparent that the kitsune of this forest were using things other than crude tools and brute force to make their homes.

This section of the village was practically deserted compared to what he had seen earlier, giving the impression that it was a more laid-back sort of place where a kitsune that disliked lots of hubbub could get some peace and quiet…not that he knew if kitsune even _cared _about such a thing.

"_Wait, what am I thinking? Of course they would care about that…why else would they be so reclusive in the stories I read back home?"_ he thought. It brought to mind the fact, though, that even though he knew some things about the foxes, there was still a lot he had to learn about them.

"_I could probably look in some of these windows if I wanted to find out more…"_ he thought, but suddenly stopped as he realized what his brain had just said.

"Yeah, sure…" he chuckled out loud. "You _totally_ won't look like a freak by staring through people's windows into their homes. Nice, Alex. _Real_ nice…"

_Clang, clang, clang!_

The sounds of the forge were closer now, and Alex slowly walked between the large trees as he continued to make his way towards the source of the noise, realizing that he was moving away from the areas of the village lit by fox-fire and into a darker part of the nighttime forest.

"_Can't see a damn thing out here…if only I could make some light…"_ he thought, stopping for a moment out of fear of tripping over something in the dark shadows.

Looking down at himself, his eyes settled on the shrunken rosary around his left wrist.

"_Hmm…Amunae said that these were the 'Fox-Fire Beads', right? If that holds true, then…could I use them to imitate actual fox-fire…?"_

He held his hand up in front of his face, staring at the tiny, fireball-shaped beads as they went about their circular, rotating motions, before beginning attempts to try and get them to work. He tried flicking his hand, to swinging his arm around, to saying various phrases of a summoning nature out loud, but all to no avail.

"_How do you work this damn thing?" _he thought after a few minutes, quickly growing frustrated. _"Ammy had no problems getting HERS to work, so why are mine so uncooperative? It's not like I can just think 'Rosary: Activate!' and they'll just-"_

There was a sudden flash from around his left arm, and Alex yelped in surprise, jumping back and waving the appendage about stupidly as though it were on fire. Fortunately, he quickly realized that he was swinging something long and flexible around, and managed to stop before he accidentally smacked himself with it.

Taking another look at his arm, he could now see that the rosary had grown to full size and was currently wrapped about the length of his arm like a python, a sizable portion of it hanging loosely and swaying gently in the forest breeze. Each of the flattened, fireball-shaped "beads" were glowing with blue fire, casting off a flickering, ghostly light across the trees around him, and Alex found himself able to see at least somewhat clearly now.

"_Wow…"_ was his first thought. _"That actually worked? I can't even begin to say how cheesy that is…but at least now I can see where I'm going with this. It's kinda like a glowstick…one I can hit people with."_

Holding up the hanging length of the rosary like a lantern of sorts, Alex set off through the trees again, the fiery blue light guiding him along as he continued following the sounds of the forge that were now getting closer.

After several minutes of traversing the dark forest, Alex emerged into a rather strange looking clearing. It looked as though all of the trees had been cleared out, or had perhaps never grown there in the first place, given the rather barren look of it. There was no grass, leaves, sticks, or other forest debris littering the ground, either…only smooth, flat, uninterrupted dirt, in a giant ring around a single and extremely large tree. Its branches reached up high into the air, above all those around it…high enough that it looked like it could touch the heavens.

At the base of this massive tree, Alex could see that a surface dwelling had also been carved…or, rather, "grown"…into the trunk, but not in the same way that the other dwellings had been.

This one seemed to have been grown into and around the tree's _roots._ Alex could spot the spiderweb of the tree's nutrient-giving appendages, arranged in a way so that they formed a sort of "wall" around a large, hollowed out pit that had been dug under the tree, which in turn formed the "roof". The roots that formed the natural wall of this dwelling had, however, had been left alone for the most part and allowed to remain planted in the dirt, so as to continue providing the giant tree with the nourishment that it no doubt needed.

It was within this hollow beneath the tree that Alex saw a strong, more normal looking light emanating from, casting twisted shadows of the tree roots across the smooth dirt. It was also from this hollow that the young man could hear the sounds of hammer striking steel, closely followed the hiss of evaporating water.

Amunae's forge. He had found it.

"_A forge under a tree? Who does Amunae think he is, an elf?"_ Alex thought sarcastically, slowly crossing the barren ring of smooth dirt as he quietly approached the hollow. Coming up to one of the multitude of "windows", Alex placed his hands on either side of one of the openings and peered inside, immediately feeling the intense heat pressing against his face.

He could see two silhouetted figures standing inside, the taller one standing with his back to Alex, in front of the open flame of a forge that seemed to have been dug into the side of the dirt wall within the dwelling. The shorter one was standing further back, an apprehensive look on his unmasked face as he tightly clutched a pair of tongs in one hand and ran the other over his short-cut hair…no doubt cut down to help relieve some of the pressure of the intense heat pouring from the forge.

Paying more attention to the taller figure, Alex could see that the taller silhouette had much longer hair…so long in fact, that it reached down to his waist. Alex's suspicions were only further confirmed when the figure turned slightly to the side, gesturing to the shorter one and revealing the shape of what could only be a fox-shaped mask.

"The tongs, Songi…quickly!" Amunae commanded in a horse and extremely tired-sounding voice, holding his hand out towards the shorter silhouette.

The shorter figure, Songi, nodded and promptly placed the tool within the kitsune-man's grasp. Without a word, Amunae immediately turned back to the forge, fishing around in it with the tool while his apprentice watched intently over his shoulder.

Wanting a closer look himself, Alex turned and walked around the circumference of the partially sub-terrain dwelling as he looked for the door into it. Finding a short ramp that led to another ivy-covered door, Alex walked down to it and pulled the vines aside, going inside and promptly wiping his forehead off as sweat began to bead upon it. Making the discovery that his rosary was still active and hanging from his arm, Alex thought for a second and then used a similar mental command in an attempt to dismiss it, watching as the rosary shrunk back down into armband form around his wrist.

Turning his attention back to Amunae and Songi, Alex watched as the kitsune-man pulled something out of the forge and immediately brought it over to the nearby anvil. Taking a hammer off a nearby shelf, he set to pounding away at it with a loud _clang, clang, clang!_ The hammer strikes rebounded off the walls, went through the "windows", and echoed off into the forest.

Moving up closer, while avoiding contact with both figures, Alex looked over Amunae's shoulder and discovered, to his surprise, that the kitsune-man was working on a sword.

Not just any sword…a katana. One whose metal gleamed brightly in the semi-dim light of the forge, catching the reflection of the nearby flames within its flawlessly smooth, mirror-like surface.

Aku-Hametsu. There was no doubt in Alex's mind.

"_This is what he wanted to show me…"_ he realized. _"Amunae was the one who created Aku-Hametsu…and Aku-Hametsu was the thing he was making for Isamu for their festival! But…that still doesn't explain how Amunae "got into" the sword. If he's alive, and making it right here, than how did he…?"_

It suddenly dawned on him…and the blood drained from his face, as the cavernous feeling of absolute surprise and dread opened up within his chest.

This place….the forge.

There had been the sounds of a forge in the vision he had…the vision when Amuane had possessed him for the second time.

The vision that Amunae was _in_. The vision where he _died._

"_If this is the place and time where that vision took place, then…then…he's gonna die! I-I-I have to do something!"_ he mentally stammered, suddenly panicking as he whipped his head back and forth.

_There is nothing you can do here, Alexander._

The sound of Amunae's voice on the wind suddenly reached him, snapping him out of his panic as his attention turned to the fox's presence.

"_But…what about-!"_

_I brought you here to observe…nothing more can be done._

"_I can't just…!"_

_Let it go, Alexander._

There was a knocking sound at the ivy-curtained door, sounding like someone rapping their hand against one of the roots, and Songi immediately turned to answer it. Pushing aside the curtain, the man revealed what looked to be a woman dressed in a rather light and casual looking summer kimono, its colors indiscernible due to the dim light coming from the forge. She too was wearing a kitsune mask, shaped and painted to have a rather "squinty-eyed" look to it, which immediately reminded Alex of the happy kind of face normally reserved for Japanese anime. Her shoulder-length hair was unbound, flowing freely down the back of her neck and swaying gently in the evening wind.

"Hello, Songi," she greeted the man in a warm and friendly voice. "…Is Amunae available at the moment?"

The man cast as single glace back towards Amunae, and shook his head as he looked back to her.

"I'm sorry, Akai…Master Amunae is busy at the moment and cannot be disturbed," he said.

"…Well…surely he can spare just a moment?" Akai asked, in an almost tentative voice.

"He is nearly finished. Can I tell him you stopped by, so that when he's had his rest, you can speak with him tomorrow?"

She gave a somewhat downcast look over Songi's shoulder towards the kitsune-man, before slowly nodding. "Very well. Good night, Songi…"

Turning to leave, she looked back and added, "…and…good night, Amunae."

Behind him, Alex could hear Amunae's work stop just for the briefest of moments, before the kitsune-man immediately returned to it.

Watching Songi as the man let the ivy curtain fall back into place and walked back over to Amunae, Alex heard him say, "Is it almost ready, Master Amunae?"

"_Shit…"_ Alex thought, his heart rate beginning to pick up. This was it. He remembered the conversation from here, burned into his mind from that fateful day Kusa Village was attacked.

"Almost, my pupil…quickly, bring me my hammer," Amunae answered in a tired sounding voice, as he pulled out Aku-Hametsu…for the final time.

"Here it is, Master," Songi stated, grabbing the tool and holding it towards the kitsune-man, who immediately took and set to work as Songi took up his position behind him.

_Clang! Clang! Clang!_ The hammer blows rang out like a death knell in Alex's ears.

Amunae, bent over the anvil and looking thoroughly exhausted as sweat coated his body and heavy breaths came out of his mask's muzzle, nonetheless looked absolutely _overjoyed._

"It…it is done…" he whispered, so quietly that Songi had to lean in to hear it.

"Truly, Master?" he whispered, the anticipation clear in his voice.

"Yes…" came the simple, tired answer.

Alex could see a smile appear on the apprentice's face.

A smile that quickly grew sinister.

"Ha, ha, ha…" he chuckled quietly, as Amunae suddenly stiffened. "Excellent."

"Wha…!" Amunae managed to get out…

A fraction of a second before Songi suddenly produced a katana, seemingly out of nowhere…and made of the same material as the ones that the red samurai had in Kusa Village.

A fraction of a second before he lunged forward…and stabbed the Amunae through the back.

"_SHIT!" _Alex mentally yelled.

"GAH!" Amunae cried out, before Songi's hand clamped down over his mask's muzzle and silenced any further outcries, even as the man drove the weapon in even further, piercing Amunae's torso all the way through and out of the center of his chest.

Even in his death throes, the kitsune-man managed to struggle weakly against his apprentice-turned-assassin's hold…but it was too little, too late.

It was clear as day to Alex, watching with complete and total helplessness from the side, that the kitsune simply didn't have the strength to save himself.

Waiting until the kitsune-man's struggles ceased, Songi released his grip over Amunae's muzzle and ripped the sword out from his body. Using his free hand, Songi then grabbed at Aku-Hametsu and yanked it away from Amunae's grip, the kitsune-man still trying to hold onto it with a feeble grip before a sharp kick from the assassin put an end to that effort.

"_Son…gi…"_ Amunae managed to croak out, causing the assassin to cast one last glance at the kitsune-man before immediately turning and bolting out of the hollow.

Alex could only stand there…just staring at Amunae, the kitsune-man choking weakly for the tiniest breaths of air, as blood continued to pour from the wounds in his chest and back.

Diagonally angled wounds…similar to the scars Amunae had in the same places.

Suddenly, there was another knocking at the ivy-curtain door, and Alex could barely avert his gaze over to it.

"Amunae?" Akai's voice came floating in from outside. "Is everything alright? I heard a commotion."

He watched as she pushed the ivy aside and stepped in…watched as she let off a horrified gasp at the scene before her.

"Amunae…Amunae, NO!" she shrieked, rushing over to the prone kitsune-man and crouching down next to him.

"Amunae, what happened to you? ! Say something, PLEASE!" she demanded, choking sobs making their way into her voice.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Amunae turned his masked face towards her…the faintest spark of recognition in his eyes as he gazed upon her.

"B…B-B…" he began to choke out.

"Amunae…!"

"B-B….Black…Hand…"

With those two words, his eyes slid closed, and his head fell to the side as his chest stopped heaving up and down.

He was dead.

"Amunae…by the gods…_no!"_ she sobbed, planting her face into his chest, his blood smearing across her mask.

Her sad, wailing keens echoed out into the forest, and Alex began to hear other voices…no doubt from those who had been alerted by them. As they drew close, she slowly looked up towards the direction they were coming from, her eyes red with grief as she looked back to his body…and clearly took note of the blood trail that was leading from Amunae to the ivy-curtain and out into the forest.

Closing her eyes again, she carefully, tenderly nuzzled her face against his.

The hollow suddenly began to lose color…Alex noticed when the orange color of the flames were suddenly bleached away, quickly followed by the hollow losing focus and becoming dull and blurry.

"I promise, Amunae…" he heard Akai say, her voice now sounding distant and echoy. "I'll find who among the Black Hand did this…and _I will make them pay."_

Swallowing hard, she stood up, wiped her eyes off, and slowly turned to leave, casting one last glance back at Amunae's body before walking out of the hollow…right before the image began to break down completely.

"Amunae…" Alex whispered, holding his hand out towards the body of the kitsune-man as he felt something began to pull him away.

"AMUNAE!"

Everything went black…

…and suddenly, he bolted upright.

Bright sunlight poured down from above. The steady burble of the running river reached his ears.

And Amunae, in his fox form, was resting on all fours next to him, his eyes close to Alex's as he studied the young man.

He was sitting on the bank of the river, right back where he had started, before Amunae had shoved him in.

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Senya_)

"W-w-wha…?" Alex whispered, putting a hand to his head as his bearings slowly came back to him. "What…what was that…?"

"That, young one, was exactly what I said it would be…how Aku-Hametsu came to be," the kitsune replied matter-of-factly.

Alex's face was twisted into a confused scowl as he looked at his feet, pulling his knee up and resting his arm atop it as the gears in his mind ground against one another in an attempt to process what he had just seen.

"I think…I think I get it, now…" he began, the kitsune next to him slightly tilting his head to the side as he listened to what Alex had to say. "That…that vision I had…the second time you possessed me…"

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, before continuing.

"You...you _died._ You finished making Aku-Hametsu…for Isamu…for some kind of festival…and then you _died._ Your apprentice, Songi…he stabbed you!"

Alex looked back to Amunae, the kitsune staring at him unblinkingly.

"That means…you…you're just a _spirit_. But you were talking to me ever since I found Aku-Hametsu…which means…"

"Correct," the kitsune stated, finishing his train of thought for him. "This place, which you see around you, is my Nirvana. My Paradise. This place IS Aku-Hametsu…or rather, _within_ Aku-Hametsu."

"But if you're a spirit…then what about me?" Alex asked.

The kitsune regarded him for a moment, before saying, "…Your wounds have disappeared, have they not?"

Alex double-checked, and confirmed that all of his injuries, even the massive patch of scar tissue where Aku-Hametsu's power had burned shut his injury from Crimson Helm, were gone.

"You have been taught, all of your life, that the soul of a living being is a perfect, _flawless_ creation…that when you die, and ascend to Paradise, all of your pains and sufferings, injuries and hurts, from the life you had simply disappear," Amunae stated.

"This place, within Aku-Hametsu, is a realm that only spirits can find their way to," he continued. "What you see yourself as, right at this moment, is the manifestation of your spirit…your _soul._ It is perfect…undying…immortal. No injury or pain from your body will follow you here."

"Then…I'm dead?" Alex questioned.

"Certainly not…though, I imagine you soon will be, if you do not wake up soon."

"Right..." Alex muttered, putting another hand to his head as the memories came back. "The fall…"

"You are merely unconscious right now…and it is within such a state that the bond between your spirit and your body is weakest. Using this, I was able to bring you _here…_within Aku-Hametsu, so that we may discuss matters more…_directly._"

"But…why?"

"Because speaking out of the sword to your mind is _so_ impersonal…" Amunae stated. "Well…that, and speaking out of the sword can be rather tiring for me…I may be a spirit, but even I have my limits."

"Well, what about the spirits you've been absorbing then? Or the history of the Takeda Clan that you showed me? Or the Black Hand? Or the Mori Tribe?"

Amunae held a single paw up to silence him, and Alex found himself affected by the gesture more than he thought he would. Like with everything else he had seen, the fox was _clearly_ in control here.

"Patience, young one…all will be revealed in time," he said gently.

Suddenly, his head whipped about and he stared upwards into the sky.

"Ah…but for now, it seems that you've finally decided to wake up," he said, a smile breaking out across his masked face.

"Wait! What about-!" Alex blurted out, but was promptly silenced again by another of the kitsune's gestures.

"We will speak again in the future, Alexander…all of your questions will be answered then. For now, though…it is time to wake up…"

"Wake up."

"…_wake up…"_

The area around him darkened…everything disappeared…

And Alex's eyes snapped open again.

* * *

><p><strong>Bleh...sometimes I really hate all the work that goes into describing things...even if it helps out the story.<strong>

**Oh well...rate, review, and I'll see you next time!**


	26. Only One Way to Go

**Heh...sorry if some of you were expecting a slighty quicker update. I guess that I just didn't think last chapter's cliffhangers were severe enough to warrant the week-early posting. That, and the fact that I was busy with a ton of random crap over the week probably had something to do with it. But enough griping on my part. Here's chapter 25 for all you wonderful readers out there!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25: Only One Way to Go<strong>

"…_How do I get myself into these things…?"_

The thought slowly made its way to the front of his hazy mind, the dark corners of his vision still retreating as he blinked several times to clear it. When the darkness refused to leave, however, he grew worried…until he realized that his eyes weren't the problem.

He slowly came to realize that the area he was in was pitch-black. No light filtered down from either above or below, and he found himself pondering what to do, right up until he remembered the Fox-Fire Beads that Amunae had given him. Using what he had learned within Aku-Hametsu, during the vision that Amunae had shown him, Alex focused as hard as he could while simultaneously making a mental command to the rosary to activate.

As light filled the area, he quickly found himself wishing he hadn't, when he suddenly realized the simple fact that he was hanging upside down.

"Whoa…whoa, WHOA!" he belted out, thrashing about in sudden bout of vertigo before a massive spike of pain in his body put an end to that. Clenching his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut as he took in a sharp breath of air, he let it out as a long, drawn out, painful groan before settling back down.

"_Oh crap…crap, crap, crap…this can't be happening…"_ he thought hazily, his mind still trying to keep up as he kept his eyes closed and his body continued to ache painfully.

It felt like every bone in his body was broken, except for his arms…his arms, he couldn't feel anything in, like the circulation had been cut off in them. His right side burned fiercely, forcing him to remember the injury he had sustained at the hands of Crimson Helm…and the subsequent sealing of the wound when Amunae had taken over. He could only imagine that the painkiller effect that had nullified the sting of the injury afterwards could only have worn off as well.

However, the most tremendous pain came from his right leg. Like his arms, the leg also felt like the circulation had been cut off in it from some unknown pressure that he could still barely feel upon it…but it did next to nothing to hide the rolling waves of pain that were emanating from it with relentless consistency. From the way it felt, the limb was either broken, or severely twisted, but the agony he was deriving from it made it seem like_ both_.

"_Come on, Alex…just breath deep…remember what dad told you if you ever got injured while hiking…"_

_When injured, just close your eyes and breathe deep. _

_Focus on what's causing the pain. Find the source of it and push it down._

_As long as it hurts, you're still alive, and you can still do something about it. Some pain now means nothing later when your life is on the line._

Steadying his breathing through sheer force of will, Alex focused on his arms first. His mental observation told him that they were straining to hold something…something big, pressed tightly against his chest as he hung there upside down. It was being held so tightly, in fact, that his arms were actually cutting off the circulation _themselves _from the intense straining…hard enough that he realized that it was probably _killing_ the muscles in them.

Cracking his eyes open, Alex gritted his teeth and leaned his head up against the pressuring pain in his body, until he could see what exactly he was holding so tightly…and he let off a relieved sigh as he leaned back down.

Held tightly in his arms, her white fur illuminated by the blue glow of the rosary, was the limp, but still-breathing form of Amaterasu. Her fur was still covered in dirt and dried blood from the injuries she had sustained from Crimson Helm, and both her divine markings and weapon were nonexistent.

But she was alive…safe and secure in his arms.

"_Damn…"_ he thought, shaking his head. _"I must've had a death grip on her the whole time I was unconscious and hanging here. Good thing I didn't accidentally strangle her…"_

Doing his best to loosen his hold, despite the additional pain it caused him from releasing the pent-up strain on the over-exerted limbs, Alex managed to free his arms up a bit, but still maintained a decent enough grip on the limp goddess' body as he looked upwards again. A cursory glance told him that the massive patch of burn tissue in his right side, sealed shut from Amunae's power, still seemed to be in decent condition despite the pain radiating from it.

"_That's going to leave one hell of a scar…"_ he thought glumly, before another harsh spike brought his attention to the primary source of the pain in his body.

"_Oh shit…"_

One look told him the sole reason why he had most likely survived the fall: somehow, someway, he must have managed to thread his right leg through the railing of the wooden walkway section he was climbing as it fell. The limb in turn would have kept him from falling…at the expense of its own integrity, of course. That, and the integrity of the railing, as another look told him that the rungs his leg was woven through were almost all cracked, partially broken, and seemingly on the verge of snapping at any moment.

"_God dammit, my leg hurts! Even if I get out of this, how am I going to be able to walk?"_ he thought, gritting his teeth. His limb didn't look _too_ badly mangled, but it hurt so badly that he wasn't sure how well it would hold his weight once he got back onto solid ground.

"_Speaking of solid ground…"_ Alex thought, leaning back into his hanging position as he took a wide look around.

"…_oh double shit."_

The section of walkway that had fallen didn't bit bottom like he thought it did…the gaping abyss that he had fallen into seemed to have narrowed down a significant amount at the depth he was currently at, meaning that the walkway that he was trapped on had somehow lodged itself against both sides of the chasm. This had stopped their fall…but now, Alex found himself facing another huge drop into the darkness as he looked down through the railing by the left side of his head.

Another look upwards also told him that climbing up the wall was out of the question. The pain in his leg told him that there was no way it would support his weight for such strenuous activity. Even if it could, the way up was pitch black beyond the light from his rosary, meaning that he had no way of knowing just how deep he was.

Wherever he was, there was only one way he could go now: straight down.

"Straight to hell…" he muttered, his weak attempt at humor lost on the jagged, rocky chasm walls around him.

"_First thing's first…I need to get my leg out of this,"_ he thought. The angle of the walkway was somewhat severe, however, meaning that he would have to take it extremely slow to avoid losing either his grip on Ammy, or his balance. Not only that, but there was also the matter of getting his leg out itself. It was wedged in painfully tight, which accounted for the cut-off in circulation, and he wasn't sure that he had the pain threshold to stand just yanking it out.

To free his leg, he'd have to break the damaged rungs on the railing. To do that, he needed leverage.

"_Yeah…but where am I going to find leverage _here?"

"_Ahem…" _a voice quietly spoke in his mind. Amunae's voice.

"_Not exactly a good time, Amunae…"_

"_Alexander…the sword…"_ the kitsune spirit said insistently.

Suddenly realizing what Amunae was getting at, Alex made sure that his left arm still had a strong hold on Ammy before reaching back with his right and feeling about for the hilt of Aku-Hametsu. Finding it, his hand closed around it as he shifted and began to awkwardly draw it from its sheath, taking extreme care not to let the weapon slip from his compromised grasp. Taking another breath as the pain in his body flared up again, Alex held it in and stretched his arm as far as it would go, finally letting his breath out as the sword's tip cleared the sheath's opening and allowed him to bring the weapon around.

"_Ok…halfway there…"_

Taking a deep breath and straining his abdominal muscles with a grunt, Alex did as much of a sit-up as he could, and quickly wedged the sword into the space between two of the rungs that his leg was threaded through. Holding the position as best he could and trying his hardest not to scream from the agony that was shooting through his leg at that moment, Alex adjusted the grip of his hand around Aku-Hametsu's hilt and began to push down.

The wooden rungs, already weakened, began to crack and groan slightly as the pressure increased.

Unfortunately, he made the quick and rude discovery that the pain in his leg also increased as he was forced to tighten the angle of his body to maintain the pressure.

He tried to hold it as long as he could, but the pain became too much for him…and before long, Alex had to let go with a pained _"Nggghhh!"_ and fall back against the floor of the walkway.

The sword stayed in place, thankfully…but it was difficult trying to convince himself to continue.

"_Dammit!"_ he thought to himself, slamming his fist down on the walkway next to him. "_It's too much! I can't take it!"_

"_You're not just going to give up, are you?"_

Another voice, different than Amunae's, suddenly answered him…one that was painfully familiar.

"D-dad?" he whispered.

"_C'mon, son! It's just a scratch!"_

"_But it hurts!"_

"_Don't tell me you're gonna stop playing just because of a little cut like that!"_

The voice wasn't angry…it was strong, and encouraging…nothing like the tide of sniffs and sniffles that was pressing back against it. Nothing like the yells of the other kids, continuing to kick around the soccer ball in the background.

_There was a sigh, followed by, "Look son…I know it hurts…but you gotta expect this kind of thing to happen at least sometimes! It's soccer!"_

"_*sniff*…I don't wanna play soccer anymore!"_

"_Now what kind of talk is that? You're a big kid now, Alex! I know you can take it!"_

"_*sniff*…*sniffle*"_

"_What about those superheroes you always look up to, huh? What do you think Superman would do?"_

"_He…he wouldn't let a cut stop him…"_

"_That's right! But the question is, are you going to be a quitter? Or are you gonna be Superman? !"_

The voice was gaining strength. Instilling confidence.

There was a sniff, followed by the sound of someone wiping their nose off.

"_I wanna be like Superman!"_

"_Atta' boy! Now get back out there and show them who's the man!"_

His dad's hand was there in front of him again…and Alex reached up and grabbed it.

The memory faded suddenly, and instead of his dad's hand, he found that he was holding Aku-Hametsu's hilt again.

"_You can do this, Alexander. You are most certainly strong enough,"_ Amunae spoke to him.

Gritting his teeth determinedly, Alex pushed down as hard as he could and sent the pressure to a whole new level as the pain in his leg spiked. Ignoring it as best as he could, he redoubled his efforts, letting off a pained growl through his teeth as a loud cracking sound reached his ears

And soon, he was rewarded with the sound of breaking wood as the rungs snapped apart and his leg suddenly came free.

Along with the rest of his body.

"Oh SHIT!" he yelled, when he the forces of gravity suddenly pulled him backwards. Sliding back down the walkway at a frighteningly fast speed, Alex felt himself slam into the jagged wall of the chasm, and his breath came out in a _whoosh_ as it was forcefully expended from his lungs.

But he didn't fall. He was damn close to it, leaning against the sideways railing from the angle the walkway was tilted at…but he wasn't tipping over the edge.

Breathing hard as he found to catch his breath, Alex lay there in the space between the wall and the lower edge of the walkway, holding tightly onto Ammy's limp form and grimacing as the feeling in his leg slowly came back, giving new life to the screaming agony that was held within it.

Twisted, dislocated, or broken…he still didn't know which one it was.

Taking a heavy, shuddering breath as he swallowed dryly, Alex peered through the railing next to his head and stared down into the darkness below.

"_Eugh…I wonder if I can see the bottom from here…"_ he thought, forcing the pain down as much as he could. Pulling himself very gently onto his hands and knees to avoid aggravating his leg, and precariously balancing on the edge, Alex made sure his grip on Ammy was secure before holding the Fox-Fire Beads over the edge and dangling them down as far as he could to see if there was anything below him.

"_Wait…what's that?"_ he suddenly thought, his eyes spotting something just on the edge of the rosary's light. Try as he might, however, he couldn't lower the rosary any further to see what it was.

"_Aw, come on! I just need a little more length to this thing!"_

No sooner had the thought formed in his head, than he felt a very peculiar 'rolling' sensation along his arm, the Fox-Fire beads quietly clinking against his armor as it slithered down the length of the appendage and uncoiled itself, extending downwards until it had gone as far as it could without completely falling off his arm.

With the light's reach extended, Alex got a clear look at what he had seen…but again, he found himself sort of wishing that he hadn't.

Spiderwebs. _Massive_ spiderwebs. Spiderwebs so big, they filled the entire area of the narrow chasm like giant nets, waiting to catch anything that was unlucky enough to fall into them from up above. Alex could see at least a half dozen of them, maybe even more, layered atop one another, ensuring that nothing would be able to slip through without a struggle.

"_What the…? What on earth's been going on down here? !"_

He immediately had flashbacks to his time in the Tsuta Ruins, when he spotted the massive sheets of spiderwebs shortly before his battle with the Spider Queen. The very memory of the massive demon holding him upside down and preparing to eat him was enough to make him gulp nervously.

"_Get ahold of yourself, Alex…"_ he thought to himself. _"You don't even know if there are any more demons like her…for all you know, this could just be the hard work of a ton of smaller, more regular-sized spiders…right?"_

"_Have you ever seen regular spiders make a web that large?"_ Amunae's voice asked in all seriousness.

"No…" he answered out loud, knowing that it was a dumb thought and a rhetorical question respectively. But even so, he knew that he'd have to keep going downwards in order to make progress: with the rosary's extended light range, he could just barely make out a somewhat welcome sight beneath all the web layers, many feet downwards.

Solid ground.

"_Looks like I'm gonna have to cut my way through…if those webs will even support my weight…and the spiders aren't just waiting for me…"_ he thought, retracting the rosary and rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he pondered how he might test such a thing.

Throwing a rock? Nope. Despite the gouges that the wooden walkway likely caused in the wall of the chasm when it lodged itself in, there were no real sizable chunks of rock within reach that looked heavy enough for a decent test. He could see the debris of larger rocks stuck to the webbing, remnants of the ones that had fallen in from the cave-in, but he wasn't sure he any of them were heavy enough to be sure that the webs would hold him.

Throw Ammy in first? No. He dismissed that thought as soon as it came to mind.

Aku-Hametsu, maybe?

"_Honestly now, Alexander!"_ Amunae protested.

"_Alright, alright! Sheesh! I was joking!"_

Heaving a great sigh, Alex shook his head and thought, _"Well…looks like there's only one way to do this then: take a page out of Issun's book. Leap before you think, right?"_

Trying to stand, but failing horribly as another spike of pain went through his injured leg, Alex instead sheathed Aku-Hametsu and made sure that he had a strong enough two-armed grip on Ammy before closing his eyes…and tipping himself over the edge of the railing.

"_Oh man, this is a really bad idea!"_ he thought in panic, clutching Ammy tightly against his chest as he braced for impact.

* * *

><p>Fuse lowered the open scroll, looking up at Oki, who was at her side with Issun on his shoulder again.<p>

"This is what we were looking for, then?" the Oina man asked.

The former priestess nodded. "Yes…look closely at the picture on this scroll. It depicts what appears to be some kind of underground cave network, apparently hidden beneath the Gale Shrine and only uncovered during the shrine's construction several hundred years ago."

Pointing with her finger, she showed them the rough and aged ink sketching of what they realized was the massive chasm within the hollowed out section of the mountain, two parallel lines at the very bottom of it leading off to the left of the scroll in an obvious representation of a branching tunnel. Opening up the scroll further to the left, while rolling up the slack with the right side, she began to uncover sections of the diagram that were labeled with ancient text, even as the single "tunnel" began to split off into several more, forming the bulk of the cave network being depicted.

"These words here…" she began, pointing to the descriptive text. "They were written by one of my earliest ancestors…one of the first to be Head Priest of the Gale Shrine. You can see his name clearly at the bottom edge of the scroll."

"One of the first ones, huh?" Issun remarked. "Pretty dang old scroll, then."

"Indeed. If the date on this is correct…this scroll must be seven hundred years old, at least."

"Seven hundred…!" Issun gasped out. "Geez! How long have you guys been around? !"

"Longer than you think, Brave Issun. The Satomi House may be small, but we are one of the oldest living lineages in all of Nippon."

"Yeesh…"

"What else does the scroll show?" Oki asked, eager to continue with their investigation.

"Well, I'm sure you have already figured out where Alex and Amaterasu would have started," she said, going back to the part of the diagram showing the chasm. "If they survived the fall, they would likely have no choice but to begin travelling down the one tunnel available to them."

Shifting the scroll back to the point they were at, her eyes scanned the text as she continued. "After that, they would have to find their way through what seems to be a small, but convoluted maze of caverns…which hopefully shouldn't prove too difficult, so long as their luck holds."

Shifting the scroll further along, she revealed more descriptive text centered around another single tunnel that all of the smaller ones merged into, the calligraphy flanked by simple doodles…wavy lines that Oki realized was supposed to be water.

"Here, there would appear to be some kind of underground river…but…hmm…" she muttered, trailing off.

"What is it, babe?" Issun piped up.

"That…that cannot be right…" she whispered, frowning in confusion. "The main path…it isn't continued on the diagram. It simply _cuts off_ right there," she explained, pointing to a part of the ink sketch where it looked like the cave continued, but simply trailed off before disappearing completely.

"Wha…?" Issun questioned, clearly confused.

"According to the text, which doesn't seem to focus on the main passage at all, there seems to be some kind of mechanism in place that would allow someone to cut off the flow of water, revealing a…a hidden passage of sorts…"

Her finger led their gaze to a smaller, much less noticeable tunnel that branched off from the primary one…a tunnel that led further off to the left side of the scroll.

"A hidden passage?" Oki mused. "A hidden passage to what?"

Fuse unrolled more of the scroll's left side, and a collective gasp came from all of them as the full secret of the diagram was revealed.

"Spirits of the air, earth, and sea…" Oki muttered, reciting the ancient phrase of his people.

* * *

><p><em>Kriiiiick!<em>

The webbing made an oddly strained sound as the weight of his armored body hit it, stretching it downwards to the frightening point of breakage, but fortunately holding together as it bounced him back up slightly.

Waiting until the webbing stopped moving, Alex tried to roll himself over, but quickly found that task to be extremely difficult for the relatively small reason that the webbing was beginning to stick to his body.

"_Dammit! I hate spiders! I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!"_ he repeated over and over in his mind, the thought giving him the strength to pull his left arm and attached rosary free with the stringy sound of tearing spiderwebs, while at the same time trying his best to make sure that Ammy didn't get stuck to them as well.

"_Ok, remember what all those videogames taught you about giant spiderwebs…"_ he thought, shaking his head from realizing that he was actually in need of what he once thought was such useless knowledge. _"Gotta start cutting my way through before me and Ammy get too wrapped up in this stuff and can't move!"_

Pulling his right hand free from the sticky webbing and making a disgusted face as he looked at the strands clinging to his gauntlet, he reached up over his shoulder and grabbed at Aku-Hametsu, the sword's hilt also covered in sticky webbing, but not so much as to be a major inconvenience. Drawing it out, he positioned it over the webbing and, trying not to strain his injured leg with too much effort, drove the weapon down into the webbing and started sawing away.

Working quickly in the flickering rosary light, the cauterized wound in his side stinging painfully with every sawing motion, Alex stopped every few seconds to make sure there weren't any giant spiders trying to creep up on him before returning to work, quickly finding that the webbing parted easily under the razor edge of Aku-Hametsu. Before long, he had cut open a sizable enough hole for him to pass through, and tearing more and more webbing off with every movement, positioned himself on the edge before falling through this one with Amaterasu in his arms.

Landing on another 'net' of webbing, Alex carefully yanked himself free of this one and immediately set to work on it in turn. His arm was already starting to get tired, and the fact that nearly his entire body hurt at the moment didn't exactly help matters either, but paranoia of feeling spider fangs sinking into the back of his neck drove him onwards. Still, exhaustion caught up with him eventually, and he was forced to stop and take a break, falling onto his back and breathing hard as his lungs worked to replace lost oxygen.

(_Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword OST – Fi's Theme 4: Piano Lament_)

Closing his eyes and wincing as yet another spike of pain ran through his body, Alex slightly loosed his grip on Ammy and Aku-Hametsu for the moment, his arms throbbing with exhaustion and strain as he lay with his limbs spread apart on the spiderweb and stared up into the darkness above him.

It was cold down here, he realized. Cold and dark. Cold enough that he could barely see his hot breath misting before his eyes, and dark enough that the shadows edging the flickering light of the Fox-Fire Beads looked as though they might reach out and smother him to death if the rosary were to go out.

And all around, he only saw that same dark, jagged, blackened rock of the chasm walls.

If this wasn't hell already, he didn't know what was.

"_It's all my fault…"_ he slowly thought.

"_If I hadn't just charged in like an idiot…"_

"_If I hadn't thought that Crimson Helm would be an easy finish…"_

"_Ammy wouldn't be hurt and unconscious…and we'd likely not be here right now."_

He felt Ammy shift slightly against him, as if the unconscious wolf goddess somehow knew what he was thinking…

And he suddenly got an extreme urge to punch himself in the face in anger.

"_But no…I just HAD to be that stupid, idiotic, overly brave moron that always bites off more than he can chew…and gets his friends hurt because of it…"_

"_You are not stupid, Alexander," _Amunae's voice said gently. _"Nor are you idiotic, or overly brave. You are merely inexperienced."_

"_Oh, is that all? !" _he mocked harshly. _"Look at where we are, Amunae! We're God knows how deep in the ground, it feels like every bone in my body's broken, and one of my only friends in this goddamn world is hurt because of ME! Not only that, but who knows what's waiting for us down here, if I can even get down to the ground without breaking my neck? ! You're telling me that the only reason we're here is because I'm INEXPERIENCED?"_

"_Events often happen that are beyond our control, Alexander. My people realized that, even with our powers of illusion and trickery, we cannot always change the fate of those around us."_

"_Well you _sure as hell_ changed mine! I hope you're happy!" _Alex mentally yelled at the fox spirit, his sudden vehemence making the kitsune's presence recoil a bit. _"Look Amunae, I barely even know you, and hell, after what you've done so far, I don't trust you either! So you can just take your little pep-talk and shove it, because I'm not in the goddamn mood!"_

The moment his mind had formulated the response, Alex knew he had crossed a line of some kind…and immediately regretted it, once he realized what he was effectively saying to Amunae:

_I don't need your help. Go away, and stay away._

The kitsune's presence simply took his words without a single reaction or a single response. Alex could feel him sitting there in the back of his mind…studying him impassively as he had admitted to doing the moment Alex had found Aku-Hametsu.

As if he knew…about the truth…about the regret.

Covering his face with a hand, Alex took in a deep breath that almost sounded like a sob…though his pride would never allow him to admit it.

But at least he wasn't prideful enough for the next words he said.

"_I…dammit…I didn't mean that…"_

"_I know, Alexander. You were only speaking out of anger. I can understand that."_

"_It's just…I can't decide right now. I know you've just been trying to help me…and I WANT to trust you, Amunae…but I'm having a really hard time doing so with all this crazy shit that you've been pulling on me. Taking control of me, freaking _transforming _me…that kind of stuff tends to create an impasse for a lot of people, me included."_

"_Many of Aku-Hametsu's previous wielders have said something similar. If you wish, I can…explain some things for you, the next time we meet within Aku-Hametsu."_

It took Alex a moment to respond…but eventually, he said, _"Ok…but I'm holding you to that."_

He could almost picture the kitsune nodding to him, before the presence slowly retreated from his mind.

Coming back to his senses, Alex got his grip back on Ammy and Aku-Hametsu, stabbing the sword back into the webbing and resuming his work.

Looking through the hole he had created, Alex could spot at least several more layers of webbing that needed to be cut through, and heaved a great sigh at the work that was to come.

At least he'd have someone to talk to.

* * *

><p>"No way…" Issun breathed. "I knew that those guys probably had some influence with the fox-faces on their side, but I had no idea they had THAT much!"<p>

"Are you absolutely certain of this?" Oki asked Fuse, his voice barely above the hushed whisper of someone who had just learned something truly intriguing.

The former priestess nodded. "If the records are correct…and I have no reason to doubt them thus far…then what we see drawn here on this scroll truly exists."

In front of them all, revealed on the scroll that had mapped out the caves below the Gale Shrine, was the inky depiction of a massive underground cavern, filled with tiny drawings of what could only be described as _buildings._ There were a huge number of them, enough that they nearly filled the giant cavern to the brim, if the drawings were accurate. And through the center of them all ran a large, apparently man-made river of sorts, which would have provided water to all of the inhabitants of such a strange and mysterious dwelling place.

"The text describing this place is clear: what you see depicted here, on the scroll, is most certainly a Takeda stronghold. An _underground_ Takeda stronghold."

"Sweet Ammy…" Issun whispered, falling silent when Fuse began to read from the text surrounding the drawing.

"Here lies the spearhead of the mortals, from whose keen edge the gleaming light of Heaven spills forth. With fire's fury, and moon's light…with wood, steel, and the strength of our courage, we safeguard the realm from those who would seek to do harm to the land of our ancestors. For we of the Takeda refuse to stand idly by! We will rise up, we will draw our swords, and we will wipe this menace from the world! Nippon will prevail!"

The words hung in the air…and for a moment, none of them spoke.

"That is a quote…" Fuse said, finally breaking the silence. "But from whom, I do not know. There is no name written by it. It proves, however, that this place was under the care of the Takeda clan…but what they were doing down there, I honestly have no idea."

"Why would a clan that was rich and prosperous need a stronghold like that? An underground one, even?" Oki mused. "It doesn't make sense…unless…"

"Unless what?" Issun asked.

"Unless they were trying to hide something…much like Yatsu was clearly trying to hide this scroll."

Fuse nodded. "I agree. Whatever the Takeda Clan was doing beneath the mountain, they clearly did not want the people of Nippon knowing about it."

Her look quickly became worried, however, as she considered the implications of their discovery.

"Whatever they were hiding, it would seem that Alex and Amaterasu would be heading right towards it at this moment. Seven hundred years is a _very_ long time, and much could have happened to the underground caverns during that time…possibly enough that the secret passage could have been revealed, or the main one blocked off."

"Which leads us back to our original objective: does the scroll show any way out of those caverns?" Oki asked, getting the group back on track.

Immediately going back to the document, Fuse scanned over it for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Look here…there seems to be some kind of passage that the man-made river flows out of. If the writing is correct, it would seem that the passage, too, was made by the clan. It seems to wind through the depths for a short while, before…eventually…"

Her eyes widened, as she realized what she was reading.

"Horsetail Falls!" she exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, how did I not see this sooner?"

"What? What is it?" Issun demanded to know, hopping up and down excitedly upon Oki's shoulder.

"Horsetail Falls…it is a waterfall, a natural landmark that wilderness travelers have been using for generations to find their way through the mountain range that Kusa Village is built on! If this is right, then…the river that leads from the Takeda stronghold to the outside world IS Horsetail Falls!"

"So, you mean that, if we find this waterfall, we find the opening to where Alex and Ammy are?" Issun said, barely containing his excitement.

"Yes! By all means, yes!"

"HA! YES! We've got it, Oki!" the poncle cheered. "We've got our heading!"

Oki could only shake his head in disbelief. After so many mysteries, and even with so many unanswered questions, they had STILL found a path that could lead to their friends.

Without a word, Oki turned and walked out of the house, even as Fuse scrambled to roll up the scroll that they had been reading from, along with another scroll, and follow him out, putting the two together and binding them with a cord.

With sunlight gleaming down from above, Oki went to his tent and grabbed the still-packed bag that he had left behind, hoisting it over his shoulders and turning to leave.

He stopped for a moment when he realized that Fuse was standing there in the entrance.

"Horsetail Falls is a three day journey from Kusa Village, and it is located deep within the mountain range that this village is built near. Follow the path marked by the travelers of this village upon this map, and take the older scroll with you as well…its information may yet be of some use." she said, holding the bound package of two scrolls out to the Oina Warrior.

Eyeing them for a second, Oki eventually nodded and took them from her.

"Thank you, Head Priestess…I mean, Fuse," he said. "We would never have gotten this far without your assistance."

"Yeah! Thanks a lot, babe!" Issun said with a big grin on his face.

However, Fuse's look was anything _but_ cheerful.

"Oki…Issun…the last thing I want to do is dampen your enthusiasm…but you must realize, even with renewed hope and strong information leading you, that the chances of Alex and Amaterasu surviving…"

Oki knew what she was getting at, and held a hand up to silence her before she continued.

(_Inuyasha OST – Half Demon, Inuyasha_)

"I know the odds, Fuse…but…I suppose I just don't care. Whether they are alive or dead, it does not matter. Seeing them again will…at the very least…provide me with peace of mind."

She nodded, fully understanding. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Stalwart Oki and Brave Issun. May fortune smile upon you…and may it smile upon Alexander and Amaterasu as well."

Stepping aside, she let Oki and Issun pass, watching the former as he stuffed the two scrolls into his pack before leaping into the air and transforming into his wolf form.

The other villagers, both Kusa and Kamiki, slowly gathered around them as the two prepared to leave, Susano, Gizo, and Ishi at the front of the crowd.

They knew…they all knew the quest that the wolf and the poncle were going on. And both companions knew that all of their hopes and prayers went with them.

"Alright, then!" Issun yelled from atop Wolf-Oki's head, as the Oina Warrior slung both his bag and his sword over his back. "Full steam ahead!"

And with those words, the two companions charged out of Kusa Village, their path before them, the sun above…and their goal clear.

* * *

><p><strong>Whaddya know? A (relatively) cliffhanger-free chapter! That's a first, right?<strong>

**Right?**

***crickets***

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time!)**


	27. The Deep Places of the World

**And we're back with another chapter! Don't worry, the action finally picks back up in this one, and it's about time if you ask me! I enjoy story development as much as the next guy, but it just isn't Okami without some life-threatening action.**

**Oh, and something that bears mentioning: I'm putting a mature laguage alert on this chapter. Yes, I know, Alex has been something of a potty mouth already throughout this story, but it's in this particular chapter that he finally drops the dreaded f-bomb (he has perfectly good reasons to, don't worry).**

**So read and enjoy. Unless you don't like f-bombs...but you'll probably still read it anyways, right? *wink wink***

**(MATURE LANGUAGE ALERT: Read at your own risk)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26: The Deep Places of the World<strong>

_Shink! Shik-shik-shik-shik…._

"_Almost…almost…"_

The sword caught in the webbing as several loose strands attached to its sides, and Alex growled in frustration as he worked to pull them loose.

The webs were getting both thicker and tougher as he progressed downward into the chasm, using Aku-Hametsu to slice through them. The ancient sword proved useful for cutting the webbing, never failing to part the sticky strands that came against its razor edge…but progress was still slowing down, as the webs began to grow more stubborn and Alex's arms began to tire out more frequently, prompting more and more rests.

He had been at it for…an hour, maybe? There was no way he could tell in this darkness, lit up by the flickering light of his rosary. As far as he knew, he could have been working for half a day and he wouldn't have known.

Not being able to know such a thing was beginning to frustrate him even more than the webs and the stinging pain throughout his body combined. His leg continued to throb painfully despite how much he tried to keep the weight off it, and the constant, insisting sting from the cauterized scar in his side only served to remind him of the smaller wounds he likely had: cuts, bruises, and the like.

Peeling off the last sticky strand, Alex resumed his work, finally succeeding in opening a big enough hole for him and Ammy to pass through. Taking said wolf goddess into his arms after sheathing Aku-Hametsu, Alex braced himself yet again for the next layer of webbing and tipped himself through.

Falling for a few seconds, Alex hit what was probably the sixth layer in line, feeling it stretch under his weight…before half of it unexpectedly peeled free from the wall and shifted the center of gravity in a heartbeat.

With a startled shout, Alex dug his gauntleted hand into the webbing while using his other arm to maintain his grip on Amaterasu's limp form. Despite its thickness, however, the webs refused to hold together, perhaps from some form of age or decay. But regardless of the reason, it didn't change the fact that the webs simply couldn't hold the weight of an armored human and white wolf, and a few horrifying seconds past as the webbing he was holding onto slowly tore away in his hand and dropped him into the bottom of the chasm.

At least fifteen feet below him.

"_AAAHHHHH!"_

WHAM!

CRACK!

Alex didn't hear the sound of his heavily armored body hitting the ground…nor did he feel the impact against his body as the metal plating absorbed a good chunk of the impact.

The only thing he felt was pain.

Pain.

_Pain._

Coming straight from what he now realized was his once-dislocated right leg, now fixed, as the weight of his fall forcefully shoved the limb back into place.

Alex had never screamed so loud in his life. His agonized howl echoed up into the chasm from where he had come…was swallowed up by the hungering dark that lurked just on the edge of his rosary's light…was gone and never coming back.

His grip on Amaterasu was completely forgotten, the young man now clutching his thigh with both hands and writhing about on the stone ground as loud, pained gasps snaked through the teeth that he was unconsciously grinding together in his body's attempt to divert some of the pain somewhere else.

It felt like a railroad spike had just been driven through the right half of his pelvis, and the agony was so absolutely intense that he almost passed out. He came right on the edge of it, his vision literally doubling as he fought to stay conscious.

He continued like this for some undetermined amount of time, weaving in and out of a state between the waking world and the unconscious one.

He didn't know how long he was there, and honestly, he didn't even care at the time.

Because time held no meaning in this deep, dark, cold place beneath the mountain.

After what seemed like an eternity, Alex finally managed to catch his breath and gather most of his wits around him again as his vision slowly began to clear.

"God…dammit…" he managed to choke out in a hoarse whisper, as he weakly thumped his fist against the ground beneath him. _"God…fucking…dammit…!"_

Somehow, his leg hurt even _more_ than it had when he had woken up a short while ago. The throbbing, rolling waves of raw, undiluted _hurt_ were so intense now that it almost seemed to sap the strength from his other limbs. It was all he could to force himself to roll onto his stomach, his body now lacking the strength to even pull himself up, and begin to weakly reach out and begin dragging himself across the stone floor.

His armor scraped noisily as he slowly pulled himself along with his arms, his legs refusing to respond, his eyes barely taking notice of Ammy's limp form as he dragged himself past her, the wolf goddess having been thrown clear when he had hit bottom.

That's where he was right now…literally rock bottom. And there was no one here with him but an unconscious wolf, which Alex wasn't sure when she was going to wake up.

His bleary, pain-hazed mind somehow managed to connect the thoughts together, and he remembered just how important she was, prompting him to reach out and wrap his arm around her torso. Pulling her close against him, in too much pain to even care about the close contact of their bodies, Alex dragged himself one-handed the rest of the way to the stone wall of the chasm and managed to pull himself up enough to prop himself in something of a half-sitting, half-laying position.

And he stayed there, keeping his eyes closed and trying to steady his breathing as he clutched Amaterasu against himself to try and bring some form of comfort to his tortured body.

It eventually came…but not from what he was expecting.

"_Are you alright, Alexander?"_ Amunae asked, the fox's presence slowly filling his mind again and subsequently driving out most of the bleary fog that had taken hold of it.

"…_Amunae…A-Amunae…!"_ he mentally choked out, unsure of what else to say as his eyes remained tightly closed.

"_I am here, young one."_

"_Amunae…I…I can't…I…"_

"_Shhh…" _the fox quietly whispered, his voice sounding more…comforting, now. Almost motherly, in fact. _"Be still, young one. You have nothing to fear. I am here for you."_

"_Amunae…please…talk to me…" _Alex quietly pleaded.

He could tell that the fox was slightly surprised by the sudden request. And why wouldn't he be, after the young man had just said that he didn't trust him yet?

"…_What shall I say?"_ the kitsune responded after a moment.

"_Anything. Just…say something…anything…to take my mind off the pain…"_

Another painful throb went through his body, and Alex squeezed his eyes shut even tighter in response as a pained sound escaped from the back of his throat.

"_Tell me…t-tell me more about yourself…"_ he managed to whisper.

"_Myself?"_ Amunae mused, and Alex received a sensation from the fox's presence that was akin to raising an eyebrow._ "Well…that would be rather difficult…"_

"_Any family?"_

A slight pause, and then, _"…No…I wouldn't think so. I never really became…'involved' with any particular females among my tribe."_

"_What about parents? Siblings?"_

"_That is…not entirely a happy subject for me…"_

"_Oh…I…sorry."_

"_It is alright."_

A moment of silence opened up between them, both sides remaining withdrawn and taciturn.

"…_If it's any comfort…it's not a happy subject for me, either," _Alex finally said, breaking the silence.

"_Oh?"_

"_Well, you've been through my head…you probably already know, right?"_

"_Not entirely. I…tend to avoid more personal memories, especially those of the Sword-Wielder's."_

"_Just like Ammy," _Alex thought to himself, feeling the wolf shift against him a bit. _"Right before I snapped at her to stay out of my head…"_

Sensing a tiny flare of guilt in the young man, which would have done him no good at all, Amunae set to trying to distract Alex from his thoughts.

"_If you are still curious, Alexander…there was _one_ kitsune in particular that I was…companions with,"_ he said, almost…reluctantly?

"_I thought you said that you never got involved with anyone!"_

"_Well…not involved in the way you are thinking. We were only friends…admittedly, very good friends."_

"_Who was she?"_

"…_Akai."_

Alex immediately had flashbacks to the kitsune-masked woman that had come to visit Amunae in the vision that the fox had shown him.

"…_Was she very important to you?"_

"_She was. In the last century of my life…she was one of my dearest companions. One whom I always enjoyed spending time with."_

"_From what I saw in your vision, she seemed to feel the same way," _Alex said, pushing himself up into a more appropriate sitting position against the chasm wall behind him and setting Ammy across his lap.

"_That is true…had time allowed, she possibly would have…'been the one', as you humans often say."_

Alex could feel another sensation from the fox spirit, this one being a feeling of fondness and…sadness?

"_Alas, it was not to be. Once my apprentice's sword went through my back, all hopes of perhaps starting a family with her one day shattered to pieces," _the fox said.

And for the first time, Alex got the barest glimpse of what Amunae had lost along with his life.

The fox spirit was doing his best to maintain a stoic demeanor, but even the young man could still sense the sorrow that the fox spirit was holding in, lurking just beneath the surface.

"_I'm sorry…" _Alex said after a moment…he didn't really know what else to say.

"_It is alright, young one…" _Amunae said quietly. _"That is an old and well-healed wound now."_

"…_I just wish I could say the same…" _Alex thought to himself, thinking back to his own past…

_No,_ he firmly told himself. He wasn't going to let that incident pull him down again. Never in a million years.

Drawing as much strength as he could from that single thought…that single, _defiant_ thought…Alex grabbed the side of the chasm wall and began working to pull himself up. His leg still hurt…but his talk with Amunae was doing wonders, distracting him from the pain as he eventually stood up against the wall with most of his weight on his good leg.

"_So, when you were alive…you were a blacksmith, right?"_ he asked, continuing their conversation.

"_Correct."_

"_Exactly how good of a blacksmith were you? And does blacksmithing even work for kitsune? I mean, not to be all stereotypical or anything, but kitsune don't exactly strike me as…'hardy' enough to have any use for weapons or armor."_

"_No doubt, you are relegating me and my kind to those 'elf' creatures from those fantasies you grew up with in your own world," _Amunae remarked dryly.

"_Hey, you said it, not me!" _Alex complained, gingerly testing his right leg with a smidgen of weight and discovering that the pain had receded enough for him to at least stand up on his own.

There was an annoyed sigh from the fox spirit, which made Alex smirk ever-so-slightly.

"_To answer your question…"_ Amunae said with a hint of irritability in his voice, _"Yes, blacksmithing holds just as much meaning for kitsune as it does for humans, given that we are, in fact, creatures that can assume the form of humans. In such forms, we can wield the same weapons and wear the same armor…as well as pursue the same professions."_

"_Hence, why you became a blacksmith."_

"_Precisely. But, to be entirely honest, it began as more of a 'hobby' that I picked up once during my…trickster years."_

"_Kitsune have 'trickster years'?" _Alex said, making a confused face as he began to slowly, gently limp around to test his footing. _"I didn't know it worked that way."_

"_It is a stage of a kitsune's life, similar to what people from your world refer to as 'puberty'. When a kitsune begins to grow up, eventually becoming more aware of the world around them, they tend to become…rebellious. And when they become rebellious, oh ho ho ho…those around them who are either naïve or foolish suffer dearly, as they often become the target for the kitsune's trickery."_

"_And that's where all the stories come from," _Alex remarked, nodding to himself in satisfaction that, for the time being at least, his leg would hold him and Ammy up. _"But what about older kitsune? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who's heard stories about the nine-tailed ones that trick people."_

"_Of course. Though I am loath to admit something so embarrassing about my people…the truth of the matter is that some kitsune simply never grow up. And by some, I mean a tremendous deal of them."_

Alex, holding his rosary up and scanning the bottom of the chasm for anything that looked like an exit, got another sensation from the fox spirit, akin to shaking one's head in disgust.

"_But, I'm guessing that didn't happen to you?" _he assumed.

"_Gods above, I certainly hope not!" _Amunae said exasperatedly. _"I do not know WHAT I would do if I fell victim to the temptation of picking on weaker-minded beings for my entire life."_

Alex narrowed his eyes a bit, and the fox quickly added, _"Err…no offense_."

"_None taken…" _Alex replied sarcastically, spotting what looked like the entrance to some kind of tunnel. There was a deep, yawning darkness within it that made him hesitate for a moment, but feeling Amaterasu shift against him again stirred up his determination and quickly nullified any fear he might have.

Securing his grip on Ammy with both arms while the glowing rosary hung down freely from his hand, he slowly began to limp towards the opening, gritting his teeth from the effort of moving with a damaged leg but at the same time thankful that he could at least stand and walk _period_.

"_But I digress…" _Amunae continued. "_Blacksmithing began as more of a hobby for me, but I soon discovered that I actually _enjoyed_ the feel of working with metal. Being able to take some ore, rough and ugly and covered in dirt, to be able to clean and purify it, to be able to shape and mold it into something that could truly be considered a work of art…I drew intense satisfaction from it."_

"_Obviously, from the way you just described it,"_ Alex said. _"But…that didn't conflict with any interests of your tribe, making metal stuff when surrounded by so much naturalness?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, from what I saw in the vision, the Mori Tribe seemed to have a pretty big deal going with the forest they were in, what with the tree houses and all that."_

"_Of course. Why else would we call ourselves the _Mori no Kitsune_, the 'Kitsune of the Forest'?"_

"_Is that what it means?"_

"_Of course…but to answer your question, yes, I would imagine that there were those among my tribe who frowned at my choice of life's work. Once they saw what I could eventually do, however, the dissent quickly came to a stop."_

"_Well, if you made Aku-Hametsu, then I'm guessing you got to be pretty damn skilled then, huh?" _Alex assumed, using the cave wall as support as he slowly limped down the twisting passage.

The kitsune nodded again. _"By the time of my death, I was perhaps one of the greatest smiths in the land…perhaps even THE greatest."_

"_That sounds a lot like bragging to me…"_

"_It is not bragging if it is true, young one. Remember that if you ever take on any boasts in the future."_

Alex felt his hand brush against something odd, and he quickly snatched his hand away from it as he looked to where it was.

On the wall, there was a thin layer of spiderwebs, some of which were attached to his gauntleted hand still.

"_If I even have a future ahead of me…" _he slowly responded, holding his rosary up and catching sight of more webbing coating the inside of the tunnel ahead, from the low ceiling all the way to the ground.

He could sense Amunae narrowing his eyes, a low growl escaping the fox's presence within his mind.

"_I sense an evil presence down here, young one…be on your guard."_

Alex nodded to no one in particular, moving Ammy into his left arm and holding her around the midsection as he reached back and slowly drew out Aku-Hametsu.

"_Amunae…I know this isn't a good time, but…I REALLY hate spiders,"_ he said nervously as he began to limp down the passage, his boots sticking to the layer of webbing on the ground and forcing him to put more energy into his legs as he yanked them free with each step. The increased exertion was putting additional strain on his injured leg, making each step a painful ordeal, and his already slow pace slowed down even further to a near-crawl.

"_Dammit…at this speed, I'm gonna be easy pickings for whatever's down here…"_

"_Then the quicker we are, the quicker we shall get through this place,"_ Amunae responded. Alex got the image of the fox spirit rubbing one of his paws against the bottom of his chin, as if pondering the way ahead, before the fox eventually said, _"Up ahead, there is a branch of three tunnels. Take the one on the right."_

Alex subconsciously nodded, before realizing something that made him stop suddenly.

"_Wait…you know your way through here? Since when?"_ he asked.

"_Trust me on this, Alexander."_

"_But how-?"_

Alex got a brief image of the fox turning to "look" at him, nothing but a full sense of seriousness in his deep blue eyes.

"_You said that you wished to trust me, young one…now would most certainly be an appropriate time to begin doing so, if you wish to leave these caverns alive."_

Alex "stared" back at the fox, a grim and uncertain look on his face, before the young man slowly nodded.

"_Alright…I'm listening,"_ he responded.

"_As I said, the tunnel on the right, once you come to the branch of three. Make haste."_

Agreeing, Alex began moving again, his breath misting in the cold cave air and visible only through the light of the Fox-Fire Beads wrapped around his left arm. The flickering blue flames in each of the fireball shaped beads continued to burn strongly, the light they threw off seeming to be compounded by the stark white fur of Amaterasu's limp form…marred by dirt and dried blood, but still magnificent despite the wolf goddess's apparent powerless state.

"_She's been unconscious longer than I have…I hope she's alright," _he thought, feeling oddly protective all the sudden.

Reaching what he realized was the end of the initial tunnel, Alex found himself coming into a semi-large chamber of sorts, the ceiling now higher up and reducing the feeling of claustrophobia. Webs crisscrossed the space above, and ahead, Alex could see three partially web-covered entrances to passages larger than the one he had just exited.

_Much_ larger.

Large enough to contain a giant spider, perhaps.

"_Tunnel on the right…ok…"_ he thought, steeling himself as he secured his grip on Ammy and used Aku-Hametsu's tip to push aside the webbing in his way.

It was deathly quiet…there was only the sound of his breathing, the rustling of his armor, and the strands of webbing stretching as they stuck to him.

Following the passage as it wound around through multiple twists and turns, he began to get the same feeling that he had before confronting the Spider Queen…dread, and the sense that something was wrong. Very, _very_ wrong.

He heard a whisper of sound behind him, and immediately whipped around, holding Aku-Hametsu out in front of him one handed.

Nothing. Probably just a bit of wind winding through the cave.

Slowly backing up, watching for movement, Alex whipped about again…and spotted nothing.

His eye twitched involuntarily from the mental stress.

"_Shit…I'm gonna go crazy from paranoia if I stay down here much longer!"_

"_Steady, Alexander…"_ Amunae whispered encouragingly. _"Keep moving."_

Sucking in a huge breath through his nose, Alex carefully resumed his slow pace through the ankle-high sea of spider webs.

Unbeknownst to him, a large, spindly looking shadow detached itself from the darkness where it had been hiding, and slowly, _quietly_ matched the young man's pace, sticking to the ceiling as it followed.

Reaching the end of the large passage, Alex came to another cavern intersection of tunnels. There were five choices this time, arrayed around the circumference of the chamber, and each one looking just as sinister as the last with the curtains of webbing over each one.

"_Hmm…a moment, please. Let me think…"_ the fox spirit said ponderingly.

"_What? !"_ Alex exclaimed, but the fox silenced him, remaining unresponsive except for a quiet stream of mumbling to himself as he considered the openings.

Heaving a great sigh to himself, Alex spotted a rock whose flat surface remained above the carpet of spider webs on the floor and sat down on it, resting in the dim light of his rosary and letting out a quiet, strained moan as he rubbed his still-aching leg.

"_Hurts like hell…but at least it's not broken. I'd never make it out of here it THAT happened."_

And then there was Amaterasu, resting across his lap, her breathing shallow, but even.

"_Why…?"_ he asked himself. _"Why did she do that? Why did she risk her life to protect me? I mean…I can understand the whole 'Goddess of the Sun, protector of the innocent and the most good and pure being in the universe' mumbo-jumbo…but she nearly died saving me from that specter of Orochi."_

He sighed again, subconsciously petting down a rough patch of her fur.

"_She didn't have to do that…she didn't have to help me. None of them did. Not Ammy, not Oki, and not even Issun or that fruit basket Waka either…even if he nearly got me killed with that prophecy of his…and sliced my shoulder open, twice."_

"_But they helped you anyways,"_ Amunae spoke up, stopping his mumbling for a moment. _"They helped you because they are your friends."_

"_Excluding the fruit basket,"_ Alex added. _"Someone that fruity can't be trusted."_

"_As you wish…"_ Amunae conceded, not wishing to waste time by arguing and instead returning to his mutterings.

Returning to his own thoughts, Alex's eyes lowered back down to Amaterasu.

"…_I don't deserve their help…not after what happened with dad…"_

Another whisper of sound…a quiet, almost imperceptible rustling, coming from behind him.

Standing up quickly, despite the twinge of pain it caused in his leg, Alex gently dropped Ammy into the webbing and raised Aku-Hametsu again.

Still nothing…but he could swear he heard _something._

"_Uh…Amunae? Might wanna think a little faster…"_

The fox said nothing, but the mutterings increased in intensity, as though he were rushing to complete some form of ritual or incantation.

Alex peered searchingly into the tunnel behind him, trying his hardest to spot what could possibly have been making that noise…but still nothing.

Then another rustle…the webs above him, partially hidden by the darkness beyond his rosary's light, seemed to shift a bit.

A single bead of nervous sweat ran down the back of his neck.

Could be the wind…could be something else. Alex didn't feel like waiting for an answer.

"_Amunae…"_ he said insistently, slowly backing up as the shifting webs almost seemed to move in his general direction.

More muttering.

"_Amunae…!" _he mentally choked out in anxiety, quickly scrambling to pick up Amaterasu as he backed up past her.

The webs seemed to bulge outward, and Alex got a split second glimpse of something big moving around in them.

"_AMUNAE!"_ he yelled out loud, his voice echoing through the cavern as a long, shadowy appendage suddenly lashed out of the webbing towards him.

Falling backwards with a shout of fright, Alex landed on his back in the thick carpet of webbing, the strands immediately sticking to him with abandon and nearly pinning him to the ground…even as a huge, spindly-legged shadow lowered itself down from the cavern ceiling and detached itself, quickly flipping in midair and hitting the ground with a heavy _thud._

"_Heh heh heh…ah ha ha ha!"_ he heard a screechy, insectoid voice laugh, as the giant shadow advanced on him. _"What do we have here? Visitors, I see…bearing wonderful shiny things, as well!"_

The shadow, too big to be fully revealed, only partially entered the light radius of his rosary…but he saw all that he needed to see.

Alex knew what the name of this creature was, having heard of it during one of his disscussions with Amaterasu after their battle within the Tsuta Ruins…a Bandit Spider. And as he was half-expecting, it was _big_…not nearly as big as the Spider Queen had been, but still pretty damn BIG.

Whereas the Spider Queen had looked like a giant, house-sized mutation of what could only have once been a beautiful woman, this monstrosity leering at him actually looked more spider-like: hairy legs, with two sickly looking claws at the ends of each one, and some kind of bandanna wrapped about its head that hid most of its face from view. It was roughly the size of a tank...but that was hardly what was concerning a horrified Alex at the moment.

The look in its eyes, the only visible part of its face, told him one thing: it was hungry.

"_Nyeh heh heh heh…it isn't often that I get visitors in my lair…"_ it said, slowly scrabbling towards Alex as he took to hacking at the webbing around him in an attempt to free himself, the sticky stands now covering him from head to toe and getting in his hair.

"…_And it is much less often that they come bearing trinkets as well! Oh, my children and I simply MUST have you for dinner, so we can see those beautiful shinies up close!"_

"_Oh crap…here we go again!"_ Alex thought in horror, as the spider hissed in glee and lunged for him.

Alex didn't know whether it was reflex or instinct that acted first, but he suddenly felt his left arm tear free from the webbing and lash forwards, launching the blazing end of the Fox-Fire Beads towards the demon and striking it right in the face with burst of flame and heat that Alex felt against his own face.

"_AIIIIIIGGGHHH!"_ the spider screeched, stumbling backwards as it clawed at its now-burning bandanna with two of its eight legs. _"FIRE! CURSED FIRE!"_

"_Second tunnel from the left! Move, NOW!"_ Amunae shouted, and Alex didn't need any more encouragement. Survival instincts kicked in, and the young man immediately began to push himself backwards as fast as he could with his good leg, holding onto Amaterasu with one arm and Aku-Hametsu with the other as he scrambled to tear himself free from the webbing that was holding him down.

Succeeding right as the massive spider managed to put out the flames on its face, Alex immediately bolted down the appropriate tunnel as fast as his injured leg would allow, hearing the spider screech angrily behind him as it gave chase. He could both hear and feel its multiple legs thudding along the ground as it pursued him through the winding passage, the webs doing little to hinder it even as Alex was forced to plow through multiple sheets of them, slowing him down to a pace he couldn't afford.

Every second he spent tearing himself free from the webbing, the massive spider closed a little more of the distance between them, its haunting cackles chasing him as he fled deeper and deeper into the caves that made up its home.

His heart pounded in his ears, his breath came in heavy, anguished gasps, and his injured leg hurt more and more as he ran, cradling Amaterasu in his arms as he pushed himself as hard as he could.

Emerging into a large, spacious cavern filled with giant stalagmites, stalactites, and even _more _of the webbing that covered the entirety of it from ceiling to floor, Alex quickly slid behind one of the rocky ground formations, clutching Amaterasu tightly as he fought to catch his breath.

Suddenly realizing that he was still putting out light, Alex quickly dismissed his rosary, shrouding him in near-total darkness…and not a moment too soon, as the Bandit Spider burst into the chamber after him, letting off a long hiss as it bore its fangs menacingly.

"_Where are you, human?"_ it chittered in a sing-song voice, Alex gulping nervously as he pushed his back against the stalagmite and prayed for his beating heart to slow down.

"_Really now, where are your manners? Don't you know that it's rude to leave in the middle of dinner?"_ it chuckled sinisterly as it began to move around to search for him.

"_Crap…crap, crap, crap…I'm in a bad spot here…come on, Alex, think!"_ he thought to himself.

He was fairly certain that the spider would be able to see him, even in this darkness. But at the same time, he couldn't just stay in one spot! He could hear the spider getting closer and closer to where he was hiding, and if he didn't do something _soon…_

Then the answer came to him: the Spidersilk Cloak.

"_Why didn't I think of this sooner?"_ he berated himself, immediately pulling the material over his shoulders, his recently adjusted eyes watching as the darkness suddenly leapt out towards him and wrapped him and Amaterasu's limp form in its shadowy embrace. Satisfied with the effect, Alex chanced a peek out of his hiding spot and saw the spider nearby, suspended at a sideways angle as it clutched a wall and another stalagmite with its appendages.

"_Hide all you want, human!" _it cackled, as it moved on to the next rocky formation. _"I have all the time in the world to find you!"_

"_See ya later, bug brain…"_ Alex thought triumphantly to himself, taking a few ginger steps backwards to make sure that he was hidden from the spider's sight before setting off into as quiet a jog as he could.

Straight into a giant, perfectly symmetrical spider web, set between two of the larger stalagmites in the cavern.

His surprised shout was what most likely gave him away, but just in case, fate decided to belt him upside the head once again by making him struggle violently and only succeed in tangling himself up even more as the sticky, elastic web suspended him several feet above the ground.

What he didn't realize at that moment, however, was that he had dropped Amaterasu to the ground below him, the wolf's body hitting an incline and rolling away from him, even as he somehow managed to turn himself around in the straightjacket hold that the webs were quickly forming around his body.

"_Ah, there you are!"_ the Bandit Spider hissed gleefully, Alex ceasing his utterly futile struggles as the demon stomped up to him.

Even in the darkness, his adjusted eyes could still see the glistening saliva dripping from its fangs, through the holes that had been burned into its bandanna.

"_Caught in my web, little fly? That's too bad, really…"_ the demon coyly spoke, putting its two front appendages together as though it were holding hands with itself. _"But all for the better, though…I simply couldn't let you leave without first introducing you to my children…"_

Suddenly, Alex began to hear a tremendous cacophony of skittering and hisses, as though they had been summoned by some unseen command…and from where he was, suspended several feet in the air by this giant web, he could see them.

Hundreds…no…_thousands of them._

Ranging from the size of ordinary spiders to the size of dinner plates and beyond, they poured from each and every tiny hole and cubby in the walls and ceiling, as a singular black mass that began to coat the entirety of the cavern's interior.

And this black mass was headed right towards him and Amaterasu's limp form below.

"_Ah…"_ the Bandit Spider said, tilting its head as it listened to the chitters and hissing that filled the cavern. _"Do you hear that? They're hungry…and you seemed to have happened along at just the right time!"_

"_No...goddammit, NO! It…it can't end like this. No way in hell!"_ he panicked, straining against the webbing and failing once again in freeing himself.

"_Well now…seeing as how you're so enthusiastic, how about we save you for the main course and begin with a little appetizer?" _the Bandit Spider hissed, leaning down towards Amaterasu and poking her limp body with an appendage.

"_Ah, yes…the White Demon of Death…she will do nicely…"_

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Alex shouted, his fear and anger channeling through his voice in a sudden burst. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"_Don't fret, little fly…your turn will come soon enough,"_ the Bandit Spider cackled, as it stepped back and allowed the black mass of tiny and large spiders to converge on the wolf.

"NO! AMMY!" Alex shouted, thrashing about with all his might, even as the mass of spiders engulfed the white wolf.

* * *

><p><strong>(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)<strong>


	28. Light in the Darkness

**One hundred reviews! AWESOME! *confetti and fireworks***

**Thank you so much, everyone! I know a lot of people probably say this about their most popular stories, but I never expected Steel in the Moonlight to become so popular! When I started this almost a year ago, I thought I would be lucky to get a review per chapter by this point...but now, we've breached the centennial mark! And it's all thanks to you guys! Again, thank you so much! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!**

**...And a week early chapter, too.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27: Light in the Darkness<strong>

Alex didn't quite know what happened to him at that moment.

Maybe it was a sudden boost of morale. Maybe he found something deep within himself to draw strength from.

…Maybe all the stress finally made him snap.

He didn't know, and he didn't care. All he cared about at that moment in time was Amaterasu's body being engulfed by the black mass of thousands upon thousands of spiders, and the sudden strength his tired limbs found as they began to shred the webbing holding him like it was wet tissue paper.

Taking note of his struggles, the Bandit Spider hissed in amusement as it watched the young man tear himself free from the webbing, drawing his sword as the rosary around his left arm flared to life…and landing up to his shins in the mass of spiders covering the floor below him. But instead of the horrified sound that the demon was expecting, the human yelled as loudly as he could, his voice echoing through the cavern as he began to move towards the sickening bulge of spiders where the white wolf had once been.

"LEAVE…HER…ALONE!" he bellowed as hard as he could, struggling through the writhing mass of arachnids like he was wading through deep water, shrugging off the dozens of painful stings that began to crawl up his legs as the spiders turned their attention to him.

"_You wish to go first then, little fly? I believe my children can accommodate you…"_ the Bandit Spider cackled, stepping back as Alex lunged forward, lashing out with his rosary and blasting aside the top layer of spiders with a burst of flame before burying his hands into the bulging mass of spiders with reckless abandon as he began to dig through them for the wolf.

"_Gotta…pull…her…out…!"_ his mind repeated over and over, even as he tried to ignore the fact that the mass was beginning to engulf _him _now, crawling up his hands and legs and carrying the sting of at least dozens if not hundreds of bug bites with it.

"_Need…to…save…her…"_

He began to realize, however, that his heroic stunt had likely only delayed the inevitable.

"_Need…to…help…"_

The spiders and the pain spread to his torso, and his limbs began to turn to jelly.

"_Need…help…"_

The strength in his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.

"_Need…help…Amunae…"_

His body felt so tired…every movement seemed to be weighed down…

Weighed down by hundreds of these damn spiders…

And yet, he still tried to dig…still tried to save Amaterasu.

One of the bigger spiders, roughly the size of a large dog and wearing a smaller version of the bandanna mask that its parent wore, suddenly appeared at the top of the mass in front of him. Chittering hungrily, it suddenly launched itself forwards and slammed into the young man's chest, sending them both tumbling backwards to the ground as smaller spiders went flying.

Trying to fend off the spider's biting mandibles while on his back, stinging pain radiating from all over his body, Alex reached back with one hand and made a grab for Aku-Hametsu…

A fraction of a second before he too was engulfed by the swarm.

"_Oh…too bad…"_ the Bandit Spider sighed, resting its chin on one of its clawed appendages. _"I SO dislike sad endings…"_

Shaking its head, the demon called out over the noise of its children, _"Leave the bones and the shiny things behind! If I catch even one of you runts trying to make off with the loot, I'll crush you myself!"_

Leaving the threat hanging in the air, the spider turned to leave, pondering which of its saved-up meals it should have for dinner.

* * *

><p>…<p>

"_I don't understand, Amunae! What do I have to do? !"_

"_You must first concentrate, Raikoh."_

"_W-what? But I…" the black-haired boy asked, trailing off with confusion written across his nearly sixteen year-old face as he stared out across the plain of jade-green grass…Amunae's domain, within Aku-Hametsu. _

_The boy still hadn't gotten used to the transition from the living world to the spirit realm…but he would. Soon._

_The fox, resting behind him, leaned in closer, moving his head next to the boy's ear._

"_Close your eyes…" he whispered. "Let your feelings and thoughts dissolve. They will serve you no purpose in the battles to come."_

_Raikoh, sitting on the ground in a cross-legged fashion, looked straight ahead, not meeting the kitsune's gaze next to him._

"_But…how can I fight without thinking?" he said after a moment._

"_You fight by trusting yourself…by trusting your instincts. They, above all else, will lead you through the hard times ahead."_

"_But…I don't want to fight, Amunae. I'm not a leader. I can't take the place of my father!"_

"_Ah…but you must, Raikoh."_

"_Why? ! Why do I have to? ! Why is everything with you and Aku-Hametsu so damned important? !"_

_The fox remained silent for a moment, as if to ponder the question that the boy had posed to him._

"_You must…because if you do not fight, then no one else will," Amunae answered slowly._

"_They…they can do this without me!" Raikoh retorted, unconvincingly._

"_Are you so certain of that?"_

_The boy knit his brow as he thought about it._

_Continuing, Amunae said, "Are you so certain that the alliance will hold together without the leadership of the head of the Takeda Clan to guide it? And even if it does, are you so certain that they will be able to repel the demons without the aid of the Sword-Wielder's power?"_

"_I…I don't…" Raikoh stuttered._

"_You do not know, because you could not possibly answer such questions," the fox answered for him._

"_I…just…can't," Raikoh finally finished. "I'm just not strong or smart enough."_

"_Not by yourself, certainly," the fox said matter-of-factly. "That is why you have me to aid you."_

"_You?" the boy said incredulously, giving him a doubting look._

_Amunae nodded. "Your training has already made you a talented fighter, Raikoh, but as you adequately put, there are some things in the world that even you are not ready for. That is _exactly_ why I am here, to 'fill in the cracks', to give you the edge that you need to stand against the more powerful shadows that threaten to shroud our world in darkness."_

"_But…what I've seen you do…when you changed my father like that…it's just beyond anything I can imagine!"_

"_And it is that power that you will wield against the demons…should you accept the help that I am willingly offering to you. It is with that power that you will provide the leverage needed in this war of ours, and it is BECAUSE of that power that they will all look to you for guidance in these dark times."_

_Silence. Several minutes of pure silence, as a soft breeze gently wove its way through the grass and the single tree they were sitting by._

"…_Can you really help me like that?" the boy tentatively asked. "Can you really help me lead them?"_

"_I can…and I will."_

_More silence._

"_Alright…then…I'm listening," Raikoh said._

"_Then listen well, young one, for I have much wisdom to impart to you…much power that you must learn to wield."_

* * *

><p><em>SHINK! CRUNCH!<em>

The sound of a sword being drawn and driven through something meaty grabbed the attention of the Bandit Spider, the demon turning back around in confusion as it looked to where the human had disappeared beneath the swarm of smaller spiders.

The larger spider, the one that had tackled him to the ground, was no longer chittering, but gurgling in a sickening fashion...mainly due to the sword that had appeared out of the black mass of smaller arachnids below it, impaling itself through the larger spider's thorax and out its back.

The sword, now coated in black demon blood. The sword, now beginning to glow.

Acting as quickly as he could before the spiders gnawed him to death, Alex spat out as many of the arachnids in his mouth as he could and shouted the first word that came to his mind.

"_RINKAI!"_

The mass of spiders suddenly bulged outwards, a brilliant blue light filtering out through the cracks as smoke began to rise out of the top of the pile.

"_Hmm? What is this, now?"_ the Bandit Spider mused.

Seconds before a loud 'BOOM!' forced it back on its many legs, the spider hissing in surprise and anger as it shielded its masked face from the sudden wave of heat that slammed against it.

"_What…?"_

Looking back, all the demon saw was dozens, if not hundreds of tiny fireballs raining down throughout the cavern, all of them smaller spiders that had been instantly immolated by the sudden appearance of the blue-tinged bonfire that had appeared within the center of the black mass. The rapid pattering of their tiny, flaming bodies hitting the web-covered floor reached the Bandit Spider, and it could only gape at what had caused such an occurrence.

There, wreathed in flame and standing in the middle of the arachnid swarm, clawed hand-paws clutching Aku-Hametsu, was the kitsune-hybrid.

And he looked angry.

(_Naruto Shippuuden OST – Kouchaku_)

"_No…t-that's…that's impossible!"_ the Bandit Spider gasped. _"The legends…I thought-!"_

"_You thought what? !" _the beast interrupted, taking one step forward, the flames surrounding its digitigrade limb catching on the webbing that covered the floor. _"You thought you would make a meal of the Sword-Wielder and the Lightbringer without MY SAY? !"_

The arachnid swarm around him immediately backed off as the flames began to spread, the tiny shrieks of a few dozen stragglers filling the air as they were caught and subsequently combusted. Amaterasu's limp form was soon revealed by the retreating spiders, and immediately recovered by Amunae, who wrapped one on his many dexterous tails around her midsection and lifted her to safety directly behind him before the flames became a threat to her.

The Bandit Spider, suddenly not looking as confident as it had moments before, cringed at the sound of its burning children and shrank away from the monster that had appeared in the midst of them.

"_P-please! Mercy, O Great One!" _it pleaded, taking a submissive stance as the heat in the cavern intensified. _"Spare me and my children!"_

"_MERCY? !" _the fox roared, making the demon flinch. _"You ask for mercy when you would have just as easily snuffed out the sun mere moments ago? !"_

The heat grew even stronger, Amunae's growing fury giving strength to the flames that had begun to coat the inside of the cavern, consuming the webs as fast as a wildfire spread through a forest and turning the sticky material into a veritable sea of flames. The arachnid swarm had all but disappeared now, the Bandit Spider's children wanting nothing to do with the mighty being that had brought this cursed flame into their lair.

"_No, demon…" _Amunae snarled. _"There will be no mercy for you…no mercy but a quick death!"_

The giant spider's eyes suddenly narrowed, its ploy having failed, and it bore its fangs and hissed as it set its many legs apart in a battle stance.

"_Very well, _fox!"it spat out venomously. _"Then I shall add you to my collection and consume you at my leisure!"_

With a sudden _whoosh,_ the massive demon lunged towards the fox, rapidly stomping through the web-fueled flames with reckless abandon as its front two limbs stretched out and lashed towards the kitsune-hybrid.

But he only stood there…stood there and watched, as the tank-sized demon barreled down on it.

Waiting until just the last moment.

Right before the demon got close enough to attack, the kitsune-hybrid reacted. Raising all of its tails, minus the one holding Amaterasu, the fox slammed them into the ground all at once, creating a split-second sound of moving earth…before all the tails suddenly burst through the ground _underneath _the demon and shot upwards.

The Bandit Spider's shriek of triumph was suddenly cut off, when its forward momentum was brought to a dead stop, its clawed, grasping appendages only inches away from the fox-hybrid's muzzle.

For every single one of the spider's appendages had a long, silver-furred tail wrapped around it, holding the mighty demon back with an amazing display of strength.

"_Impossible!"_ the demon gasped, once it realized what had happened.

Amunae's lips drew back into a snarl, exposing all of his razor sharp teeth, as he raised his arms up to either side of himself.

"…_Mercy…?"_ the spider said weakly.

Thrusting his arms down with a mighty _"RRAAAGH!"_, the fox put all of its force into its tails…and before the Bandit Spider could even blink, it found itself being thrown upwards towards the low ceiling of the cavern.

Towards the waiting stalactites above.

_CRUNCH!_

The demon's agonized shriek reverberated through the cavern as it was slammed into the ceiling, the sharpened ends of the rock formations piercing its hide and impaled it through the back. Black blood began to leak from the wounds, running down the sides of its body and dripping off to the ground below, hissing and sputtering loudly as it struck the sea of flames raging through the cavern.

The fox-hybrids face showed no inclination of mercy upon it, as it tensed up and shoved upwards with its tails again, drilling the spider demon even further into the rocky spikes and triggering a sickening insectoid gurgle.

Holding it there for a few more seconds, Amunae finally released the pressure holding the spider against the cavern ceiling, but held on with his tails as the spider slipped free from the now black-coated stalactites.

With another strained growl, the fox pushed forwards with its tails this time and let go, literally hurling the mighty demon across the room and slamming it into the wall next to the tunnel entrance.

With heavy coughs that brought more of its black blood up from its lungs, the Bandit Spider struggled onto its feet, amazingly still alive after its ordeal…but only just.

"_You…YOU…!" _it gurgled out, trying to take a step forward but slipping and falling forwards as it became too weak to move.

Amunae responded by retracting all of his tails and bringing his clawed hand-paws down to waist level, his padded palms facing forwards towards the spider demon ahead.

"_Find your peace…"_ he whispered deathly low.

Twin fireballs of blue flames – foxfire – erupted to life in his hand-paws, roiling around as they burned brightly in the darkness.

"…_in the embrace of pure flame."_

Slamming the two fireballs together and subsequently forming a single, _giant_ one, Amunae suddenly thrust them both forward at once, launching the mighty projectile straight at the giant spider.

KA-BOOM!

Impacting the demon dead on, the fox-fireball exploded with all the fury and power that the kitsune spirit possessed, launching the spider backwards and slamming it into the wall again.

Another agonized shriek filled the air, the demon now on its back and flailing all of its legs around in its death throes as Amunae's foxfire slowly claimed its victim.

With a horrible gurgle, the shriek died off…and the Bandit Spider's legs all curled inwards, wrapping up the body in their tight embrace.

Breathing heavily, the fires around him dying out with the rest of the flames, Amunae stood straight up and slowly brought the limp body of Amaterasu around, releasing his tail's hold upon her and dropping her straight into his arms.

Looking down at her impassively, the fox noticed that she was beginning to stir.

* * *

><p>She could hear the roar of flames, slowly dying away.<p>

She could smell the smoke. She could smell the burning flesh of…insects?

But she couldn't see. Her eyes…her eyes were still closed, she slowly realized, as the haze over her mind began to lift.

She strained…and her eyelids slowly began to come up.

And she saw…something.

At first, she could swear that she saw…some kind of fox. But the image she was looking at refused to steady itself. It wavered…the image doubled, retracted…and she saw a human, staring down at her with concern clearly written across his face.

Just barely…before the image shifted back…back, and forth. Back and forth.

She blinked…tried to make sense of it…

But her mind refused to clear.

* * *

><p>"…<em>Alex…?" <em>came the quiet, tired sounding whisper.

Realizing that she was nowhere near ready to wake up yet, Amunae brought his clawed hand-paw around and, as gently as he could, slid her eyelids close.

She gave no resistance.

"Rest, Lightbringer…" he whispered. "He will be waiting for you upon your awakening."

Casting one last look at the Bandits Spider's burning corpse, the fox-hybrid growled lowly and handed Amaterasu off to one of his tails again, turning around and dropping onto all fours before quickly loping off into the tunnel behind him.

And he ran, fast as the wind, paying no heed to the remaining webs and the angry chittering of the surviving spiders behind him. Taking care to keep the tail holding Amaterasu far enough above the ground, Amunae sped through the darkness, his path lighting up before him as his foxfire sprang to life.

He knew these tunnels well…but he feared what lay at the end of them.

It had easily been one hundred years or more since he had last seen the place that lay ahead…last seen it in all of its glory.

A hundred years was a long time, even for a kitsune, and there was much that could have happened.

He wasn't expecting any survivors…anyone who had survived the fall of that place would have died out long ago…humans were a strong people, but they died _so quickly_ from old age.

"_We're trapped! There's no way out!"_

"_Fight for your lives! Fight until the end!"_

"_There's too many of them!"_

The memories came flooding back to him, and Amunae gritted his teeth as he ran, shaking them off.

But they persisted.

"_AUUUGH! HELP ME!"_

"_Gods above…this is it, isn't it?"_

"_The gods have forsaken us…they've left us all to die!"_

Growling from the strain, Amunae forcefully blocked out the onslaught of memories and kept running. He pushed further and further into the depths, hoping that wherever he was forced to stop, it would be _outside_ of this horrid nest that the Bandit Spider had made for itself.

* * *

><p>The forest was quiet tonight. Nothing but the sound of the crackling campfire reached the Oina man's ears.<p>

That, and the irritatingly persistent bouncing sound the Issun was making, hopping back and forth between the scrolls that Fuse had given them as he examined them.

Oki simply sat there, never taking his eyes off the fire, except to stir the small pot of stew that was cooking over it.

"How you holding up, Fuzzhead?" Issun asked, taking a small break.

The Oina man grunted in response, and left it at that.

"You're thinking about those two again, aren't you?" the poncle assumed.

He slowly nodded, but kept his gaze on the fire, flickering light playing itself out over his mask.

Issun hopped over and, after staring at Oki for a moment, sat down next to him and positioned himself as close to the pot of cooking stew as he could without becoming part of dinner himself.

"Well, I can't say anything that you haven't already heard…but don't sweat it, Fuzzhead. We'll find them," he said encouragingly. For about the fifth or so time since they had started this venture of theirs.

Again, Oki said little to nothing, only serving up their dinner and eating in silence as he did his best to ignore the hungry slurping sounds Issun was making with his tiny acorn-shell bowl of soup.

"Hearty and delicious!" the poncle said after finishing, letting off a loud burp and grinning sheepishly up at the Oina man.

Nothing. Oki might as well have been made from stone for all the reaction he was getting out of him.

Issun sighed a bit, looking back down at his hands, before eventually saying, "Well, I'm gonna turn in. You might wanna get some sleep too, Fuzzhead."

The Oina man finally responded with a shake of his head. "I think I'll take watch for tonight."

"…You sure about that, buddy?" Issun said warily. "I mean, you haven't gotten much sleep lately…at all, actually. You've been up ever since we started off on that little quest to take out Crimson Helm, and you haven't slept a wink since then!"

"I'll be fine, Issun," the wolf-man replied.

"Don't try and shove that Oina bravado crap down my throat, Oki!" Issun suddenly burst out. "You've been up for at least two days straight, either fighting off that tin can of a demon or digging up all those Satomi scrolls! You expect me to believe that you're not the least bit tired after _all that_?"

Oki turned to look at him, and indeed, there were some tired rings beneath what little Issun could see of the Oina man's eyes…but there was also a deep-seated determination there, something that not even a lack of sleep could put down.

"Get some rest, Issun," Oki said in a low voice, stoking the fire in front of him. "We have a lot of hiking to do tomorrow."

Heaving another sigh, Issun shook his head and mumbled something about "stubborn, pig-headed wolves" before taking his tiny handkerchief-sized blanket and wrapping it about himself as he went off to look for a decent enough patch of ground to sleep on.

Giving Issun a quick glance as the poncle went off, Oki slipped his hands under his mask and rubbed his eyes with a tired yawn.

In truth, there was more to his sleeplessness than simply being too stubborn to lie down…but it was more than he felt comfortable admitting to the poncle.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Issun…he had known him since long before Amaterasu had first come to the mortal plain of Nippon, both Kamui villages of Ponc'tan and Wep'keer generally getting along well with each other. It was just…

...Well, he hardly understood it himself. At this point, all he could describe it as was that he was being haunted by something.

Not haunted by a ghost…haunted by _her._

The truth was that he couldn't sleep. Every time he became tired, when his determination began to fade enough for the sleepiness in his limbs to overtake him and his eyes slid closed…

He saw her. Amaterasu. Staring back at him.

Through the fire…her ears suddenly perking up as she realized he was there.

His honed instincts suddenly kicked in, and slowly he drew the silvery sword from its sheath at his waist and held it up by his head, parallel to the ground.

She got up from her laying position, sipping into a low-crouching stance as a growl slipped from her throat.

Slowly, carefully, they began to circle each other within the tight confines of the hut, the fire continuing to burn and serving as the only barrier between them.

Slowly feeling the heat behind him shift to cold, as he maneuvered himself in front of the hut's entrance, Oki eyes shifted slightly as he glanced behind him.

A hut this small was no place for a fight…and with a single shake of his head towards the outside, he turned and bolted out the door.

He distinctly heard the crunch of snow beneath his feet, as well as another crunch of snow from the wolf following him.

Stopping and slowly turning around, watching as the wolf stopped from across the snow-covered clearing, he examined the intruder.

Snow white fur, its flawless purity outdoing that of the undisturbed snow drifts around her. Bright red markings, sticking out against the lack of color around her and immediately marking her as something not of this world. Amber-colored eyes, betraying the intelligence and power that lay within her.

She was hauntingly beautiful…and terribly ferocious. She was also an intruder to the land of Kamui…and it was his self-imposed duty to protect the land of his birth.

From demons…and whatever else seemed out of place.

Lowering his sword, he raised his masked face to the sky, feeling the blizzard's icy wind and falling snow…

And howled as loudly as he could, the mighty roar echoing from its point of origin to the mighty peaks of the nearby mountains.

Charging at him with a ferocious snarl, the white wolf attacked, lunging towards him with large, graceful strides, even as he raised his own sword up and met her charge with one of his own.

Right as they met in the center…Oki suddenly gasped out loud, sitting back up from the laying position he had taken on the ground.

A cold sweat tinged his face beneath his mask, and it took all of his willpower not to tear it off to relieve the discomfort.

That was why he couldn't sleep. His memories wouldn't let him.

* * *

><p>Blue light slowly filtered into the small cave, as well as the sound of heavy panting and running water, as Amunae slowly walked in on all fours. Amaterasu's limp form still hung from one of his tails, but she was quickly deposited on the ground as the kitsune-hybrid limped up to the bank of the underground river and stared into the water's surface.<p>

His own fox face looked back at him, and he managed a small smile to himself.

It had been too long…too long since he had gotten to experience what it was like to live again. To actually draw breath, to feel the ground beneath his paws, to experience the thrill of battle first-hand.

But it couldn't last. It was only a temporary arrangement, for this was not his body, but Alexander's. The demon souls stored in the blade could sustain the form for a while, but they could not hold the form indefinitely for him…and neither would the young man's ki.

As much as he enjoyed this temporary freedom, he was not about to keep it as long as he could at Alexander's expense. He was better than that.

And he needed Alex. They all did.

The moment he reached that conclusion, there was a splitting pain across his chest, and he sucked in air as he clutched at his scar and suddenly found himself short of breath.

Blood came away on his hand-paw, and he stared solemnly at it before slowly lying down on the bank and curling up.

"And so…the cycle begins anew…" he whispered, closing his eyes as his spirit was pulled away from Alexander's body.

There was as loud _poof,_ a sudden cloud of smoke, and where the kitsune had been laying, only Alex remained.

His eyes slowly opened, and he stared up into the dark ceiling of the cave. He heard the sound of running water next to him, feeling the cool spray of its passage, and he let out a small groan as he began to pull himself up.

"_Ugh...I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that,"_ he thought to himself. _"At least the pain in my leg's gone…for now."_

Feeling the press of Aku-Hametsu's sheath against his back, he slowly reached back and wrapped his hand around the hilt, choosing to speak instead of drawing it.

"_You still there, fox-face?"_ he mentally asked.

"_Not now, Alexander…I need to rest…"_ answered Amunae's exhausted voice.

"_You're tired too?"_ Alex asked in surprise, ignoring the kitsune's request. _"How much did that take out of you?"_

A tired, irritated growl was his only answer, before the fox severed the connection and retreated from his mind.

"Geez. Cranky, much?" he muttered out loud, rolling onto his stomach and pushing himself up. His arms shook from the strained and tired muscles, his exhaustion making him almost too weak to pull himself onto his hands and knees.

Almost, but not quite. He could take comfort in_ that_ fact, at least.

Spotting the underground river in front of him, Alex suddenly realized how dry his throat was and crawled up to it, scooping handfuls of the ice cold water into his mouth and suppressing a shiver as he felt the freezing liquid race down every inch of his throat and settle uncomfortably in his stomach.

"_Great…"_ he thought, suddenly realizing something even more uncomfortable. _"I think I might have swallowed some of those spiders back there…"_

As disgusting a thought as it was, Alex didn't miss the loud growl that his stomach suddenly let off.

"_Whoa. Getting hungry…"_ he realized. _"I don't think I've had anything to eat in at least a day or two, depending on how long I was out."_

He looked over, and spotted Ammy lying on the ground nearby…still unconscious, and still breathing.

"_Heh…if only you were awake, maybe you could grow some fruit trees or something,"_ he thought, crawling over to her, picking her up, and pulling her over to the river again.

Scooping up some more water from the underground river, he did what he could to open her muzzle and avoid her sharp ivory teeth as he slowly began dripping it into her mouth. Even though she was unconscious, she needed to drink too.

He just wished there was more he could do. Even with Amunae there, he just felt so…_helpless_ without her.

"_Come on, Ammy…why won't you wake up?"_ he thought, as he sat up against the cave wall and placed her across his lap._ "I can't last much longer without your help."_

He just sat there and stared at her, as the river next to him continued to flow by.

He flicked his rosary on, briefly illuminating the cavern.

And he flicked it off, shrouding them in darkness.

On and off. On and off. On and off. Over and over and over, until the process had an almost hypnotic feel to it.

She really was a beautiful animal, he thought, as he continued to repeat the process, staring at her with every brief burst of light. Even with the dirty splotches, dried blood, and several strands of webbing in her fur, she still held a sort of aura about her…one that captivated the soul and focused all attention on her.

Besides that, she was a nice person as well. She didn't judge, she rarely got angry, and Alex found it hard to deny that her minor aloofness held a certain charm to it as well.

"_Gah! You shouldn't be thinking like that!"_ he suddenly berated himself, his face turning red as he suddenly averted his gaze.

"_Think! You're a human, and she's a wolf! On top of that, she's a freaking _goddess _too! And even more, Oki's already got his eye on her. You can't just step in between them! You're better than that, dammit!"_

Looking back down at her, he managed to get himself under control, settling down with an irritated sigh as he put his helmeted head back against the wall behind him.

"_The two of you are just friends…nothing else…"_ he concluded, closing his eyes as he tried to rest. Even with the uncomfortable settings around him, he was so exhausted at the time that he fell asleep almost immediately.

And so passed the first day beneath the mountain.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! Rate, review, and I'll see you next time!<strong>


	29. Cloth, Fur, and a Rosary's Gleam

**Ok, even though it's gonna kill me to say this...this is gonna be something of a filler chapter, the reason being that my dad's birthday and Father's Day are REALLY close together, and I was busy pretty much all last week doing stuff related to that. Combine that with the random crap that usually distracts me, and you get little to no time to write. Ugh.**

***Dives for cover under a hailstorm of rocks, boo's, and hisses***

**Yeah, the plot doesn't progress too much in this chapter, but those of you who like emotional development might find it to your liking (Keyword: MIGHT). If it doesn't, feel free to pelt me with rocks. I'll still do my best to get next chapter in faster, and hopefully with a little more plot progression.**

**Also, some of you might have noticed that Steel in the Moonlight finally has an official cover! Big thanks to Senom299 (aka, TheCrazyAuthors) for doing that lovely picture for me! For those of you who want to see the full-sized image, there's a link on my profile page leading to it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28: Cloth, Fur, and a Rosary's Gleam<strong>

When Alex opened his eyes, he did not see the darkened cavern, but a brilliant blue sky and a brightly shining sun.

Amunae's Domain. The fox had made good on his promise, bringing Alex back to the spirit realm that lay within Aku-Hametsu, with the grassy plain stretching off into eternity as it met the sky, and the lone tree atop the hill.

And clearly, the kitsune was itching to get their conversation started as soon as possible, judging from the way he began poking Alex insistently with one of his tails.

"Ok,_ ok!_ I'm up, dammit!" he exclaimed, pushing himself up onto his feet and turning to look at Amunae and the single tree that he seemed so fond of, his nine long tails once again wrapped around it as the warm breeze blowing across the large plain made his silver and white fur start shimmering.

But looking at the fox now, Alex realized that Amunae's insistent manner was likely due to the apparent tiredness that the kitsune was feeling: his eyes were half-lidded and his head was resting on his paws, clear indicators that the fox was exhausted.

"Be thankful that you have the luxury of rest, young one…" the fox muttered sleepily, his jaws opening wide as he yawned and stretched his paws out along the ground in front of him. "It is something that you will not always have."

"Well if you're so tired, why bring me here instead of sleeping it off?" Alex asked, shrugging as the large fox rolled onto his side and splayed out all four paws.

"I DID _'sleep it off'_, young one…I let half the night pass before I brought you here," Amunae remarked, his tails lazily drifting about behind him and betraying the exhaustion the fox was feeling.

"So, you got as much sleep as you could…but you still wanted to talk, even with how tired you're feeling?"

"You said you would hold me to my promise…so I kept it," Amunae answered him. "Do you know nothing of the fierce loyalty a kitsune holds to his peers?"

"Uh…I guess I don't…" Alex muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he looked down.

"Then consider this your first lesson on the subject, Alexander: if you are lucky enough to befriend one or more members of my people, you will have powerful allies shadowing your footsteps…allies who, depending on the nature of your friendship, might even continue it with your descendants once you pass from the realm of the living."

"But I hardly even know you!" Alex exclaimed. "Seriously, Amunae, with the way you've been talking, it's like we've known each other for years!"

"If our luck holds, we just might," Amunae replied with a toothy grin, his eyes closed.

"Are you even listening to me? !"

"It would be difficult not to, young one…" the fox replied, his eyes remaining shut.

Pinching his nose in annoyance, Alex decided to change the subject.

"Look, as long as we're here, we might as well do what we said we'd do!" he insisted, taking a step closer to the giant fox despite the uneasy feelings it awoke in him. "You said that you would explain some things for me, so start talking!"

Opening his eyes, the fox stared at him with a curious and seemingly half-amused look, before he blinked and slowly rolled over onto his belly again.

"Very well…what would you like to know first?" he said after another yawn.

Alex racked his brain for things to ask the fox, going over everything that Amunae had either told or shown him so far, and he found no shortage of subjects to talk about. Going through them all, he began to pace back and forth as the fox stared at him.

"Ok…" Alex began. "Why don't we just start with that vision you showed me the first time I was here?"

Amunae nodded. "I thought that might be your first choice…it has been whirling around your thoughts ever since I showed it to you."

"_And yet another reason why you creep me the hell out…"_ Alex thought, before asking, "I'm kinda curious…Daichi said that you and him were friends?"

"Ah, yes…" Amunae chuckled, a wistful look appearing in his eyes. "Daichi, or _Chieftain_ Daichi as he would prefer to be called, was the current leader of the Mori Tribe at the time of my death. He was old, wise, and very powerful…and he was also one of my best friends. We had known each other since we were kits, and grew up together in the very forest that he and I, along the rest of our people, protected and preserved."

"You guys really knew each other for that long?" Alex said, amazed by the fact.

"We did," Amunae said, nodding. "We were both inseparable during our youth, causing all sorts of trouble for both humans and our own kind."

"Huh…"

"Do you find something amusing, young one?"

"Nah, it's just…I'm kinda having a hard time seeing you as a troublemaker!" Alex replied sheepishly, shrugging.

"Well, as I told you before, I eventually grew out of it…and so did Daichi."

"And he eventually became chieftain, right? Was there any competition between you guys for the title?" Alex asked.

"Certainly not. I was born to a family beneath Daichi's, for he was born to the ruling family itself. When the time came for his father to step down, he inherited the position, within a system of leadership similar to the human clans of Nippon. And he ruled the Mori Tribe with fairness and respect from that day onwards…with the occasional tidbit of guidance from myself, of course."

"But, in that vision…" Alex cut in, "…Daichi was telling Isamu something about a 'Twilight' and a 'Passing'…what are those things? 'Cause to me, it sounded as if Daichi was getting ready to _die,_ or something like that!"

"…He was," Amunae replied simply, his half-amused look turning somber.

"Oh…how?" Alex asked eventually, being as respectful as he could.

"The Twilight is a part of a kitsune's life cycle…the very _last_ part," Amunae began. "In the rare event that a kitsune reaches the ripe old age of nine-hundred, it sets in motion a further chain of events that eventually leads to what is called the 'Passing' among my people. Essentially, it is the time of a kitsune's life when he or she literally KNOWS that they have reached the end of their years."

"And…that's when all the stuff Isamu mentioned happens?"

Amunae nodded. "When the Twilight begins, the effects are barely noticeable at first…but eventually, the fox knows all too well: their memory, and all of their knowledge that has been accumulated over the years, begins to collapse in on itself as the kitsune's mind slowly begins to implode. While not causing any physical damage in of itself, it takes a tremendous toll on the kitsune's sanity, as all they have ever known in their long lives falls apart at the seams. If nothing is done, the kitsune will eventually go insane, becoming a threat to itself and others."

"Yeesh…" Alex muttered, making a face. "That sounds kinda gruesome, actually."

"To those unlucky enough to witness its full effect, yes. What is interesting, however, is that it is theorized among my people that a kitsune could possibly live forever, barring the insanity brought on by the Twilight…but none in their right mind have dared to try. Many of them prefer to avoid it, through a ritual known as the Passing."

Alex nodded, beginning to understand.

Continuing, Amunae said, "If a kitsune accepts that their time has finally come, they can avoid going insane by using the ritual. It is something of a long and painstaking process, involving things such as offerings and proper farewells to loved ones…but once that is all taken care of, a kitsune only needs to find a secluded location, _will_ its own spirit to leave its body, and the process is complete. Their body simple disappears to become a part of the earth, and their spirit passes on to Paradise in the next world, to take their place at the goddess Inari's side."

"Whoa, hold up a sec!" Alex cut in again. "Goddess Inari? Who's she?"

"Ah, that's right…you know nothing of kitsune religion, do you?"

"Can't say I do," Alex answered, shrugging.

Amunae yawned again, and rested his head on his paws. "Remind me to tell you later, then…" he said sleepily. "If you have no other questions, I would prefer that you hold my promise fulfilled for now and let my spirit rest."

"Wait!" Alex suddenly yelled, making the fox's ears twist backwards in annoyance over the loud noise. "There's one other thing…something that happened with the Bandit Spider attack."

"You wish to know what happened during the time I possessed your body?" Amunae assumed.

"Actually…no," Alex said, making the fox raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "It was that vision you showed me, right after I got swarmed by all those spiders."

A confused look came over the fox's masked face, and Amunae raised his head back up.

"…Vision?" he mused after a moment. "I did no such thing, young one."

"What? But…you had to, right? I mean, it's not like I just _dreamed_ it up in the middle of a life-threatening crisis! It was a real vision, with you and Raikoh here in your domain-!"

Alex noticed the fox's eyes widen in surprise right after he mentioned the name, and suddenly, it was as if Amunae had completely forgotten about his exhaustion, standing up suddenly and putting his masked face right in front of Alex's.

"Raikoh? ! Are you certain of this? ! _Are you certain that is what you saw? !_" he demanded to know.

"Wha-!" Alex exclaimed, stepping back and holding his hands up as his personal space was invaded. "I mean, _yeah!_ Yeah, that's what I saw! Honestly! Geez, Amunae, take it easy!"

Upon hearing the young man's words, the fox immediately halted his advance, but the fierce look remained in his eyes as he looked down at the ground and appeared to ponder this new information.

"What the hell, man!" a flustered Alex exclaimed. "What was THAT all about? !"

The fox didn't speak at first…he seemed to be staring far off into the distance, and Alex could see his jaw moving as he muttered incomprehensible things to himself.

"I…need time…to think about this, Alexander…" he said eventually, settling back down onto the ground.

"About what?" Alex demanded to know. "What the hell is it, Amunae? !"

"Nothing to concern yourself over!" the fox suddenly snapped at him. "Now wake up and leave me to my thoughts!"

Alex was about to protest, but Amunae's domain suddenly darkened around him until he only saw black, and slowly realized that he was staring at the inside of his eyelids.

Cracking them open, Alex immediately let off a sudden gasp as all of the aches and pains that had been nullified by his trip to Amunae's domain returned in a throbbing, nerve-searing rush.

"_Ow!"_ he thought, bending over as he clutched at his damaged leg. _"One hell of a wakeup call!"_

It took him a moment to realize that Ammy wasn't in his lap anymore.

"…Ammy?" he whispered out loud, wondering where she could have gone as he slowly pushed himself up with the help of the cavern wall behind him.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled out "Ammy!", hearing his voice echo over the flow of the underground river.

"_Alex? ALEX!"_ he suddenly heard in his mind, and he flicked his rosary on in response, illuminating the cavern he was in.

And the white wolf, on her feet by the river and looking back at him with hope in her eyes.

"Ammy! You're ok!" he exclaimed, moving to get closer, but immediately stumbling to a stop as another bolt of pain went through his injured leg.

"AGH! Dammit!" he cursed, clutching at it as he went down on his knee.

"_Alex!"_ she exclaimed again, quickly moving over to him instead, but greatly favoring her right paw as she went. _"Are you alright?"_

He let out a half-gasp, half-laugh kind of sound, managing a small smile as the pain slowly subsided in his leg.

"I'm fine…don't worry," he assured her, but that didn't stop her from assaulting his face with a few happy licks when she reached him.

"Ackpppth! Lay off, dog breath! I said I'm fine!" he snapped, trying to fend her off without accidentally aggravating both their injuries. "I'm more worried about you…how're you feeling?"

"_I'm alright…my leg hurts though…and I'm feeling a bit dizzy, too,"_ she said, sitting down in front of him.

"Really? You sure you don't want to lie down or something?"

"_It was worse when I woke up, believe me,"_ she told him, a small lupine smile finding its way onto her muzzle. _"Fortunately, I had a couple holy bones with me…they didn't do much, but they took the edge off at least."_

His face crinkled up in confusion. "Holy bones?"

"_A variety of the food of the gods, made specifically for me," _she answered. _"They can heal any wounds we sustain, and often come in several sizes. I kept them in my astral pouch here…"_

Going back over to where she had been standing by the underground river, she picked something up in her jaws and carried it over to him, depositing in front of him and wagging her tail like a dog that had just fetched a newspaper for its master.

"So…you just carry this around?" he assumed, picking it up and examining it. It seemed to be some kind of leather satchel at first glance, covered in white fur similar to Ammy's in her powered-up state with a bright red swirling design painted onto the side. "What do you keep in it?"

"_Oh…this and that."_

"Any more of those 'holy bones'?"

"_Unfortunately, no. I…wasn't exactly expecting to remain on Nippon for very long, so I packed light."_

"Huh…" he muttered, opening the astral pouch up and looking inside.

"Whoa, it's deep!" he exclaimed, looking in and spotting a large variety of fruit, veggies, and some small slips of paper. Pulling one out, he stared at it and asked, "What's this for?"

"_Oh, careful with that!" _Ammy yelled suddenly, jumping forward despite her injuries and snatching the slip of paper out of his hand. Standing there, the paper hanging limply out of the tip of her muzzle, she huffed slightly and said, _"Those are exorcism slips…they are extremely dangerous to those untrained in their usage. It's best if you just leave them alone for now."_

"Uh…ok…" he slowly answered. Looking back into the bag, his stomach suddenly let off a growl that was loud enough to echo slightly in the small cavern they were in.

"_Goodness!" _Ammy exclaimed. _"Was that YOU?"_

"Yeah…heh…guess I'm still hungry…" he said. "You mind if I…?"

"_Oh, by all means, be my guest! You must be _starving!_"_

Reaching into the pouch, Alex fished out a clean-enough apple and immediately dug into it, without even caring whether he swallowed the stem or the seeds. He ate like a wolf, and within seconds, the fruit was completely gone.

"Ahh…that's better…" he said, standing up and handing the pouch back to Ammy, who simply touched the satchel with her nose and dismissed it with a small flash of light.

"_Alex…" _she began, once she was finished. _"Where exactly are we?"_

"Hell if I know…" he answered, slowly limping past her up to the river. "If I had to guess, I'd say we're still somewhere beneath the Gale Shrine, or even somewhere past it."

"_Wait…did you just say…"_

"Oh, right, you were kinda out of it…" he said, turning back to her. "You took a pretty mean hit from Crimson Helm and smacked headfirst into a pillar…knocked you out cold."

She nodded, slowly limping up to him. _"Yes, I remember that...it happened after…"_

"After you saved me from Orochi…or his specter, or whatever. I dunno, really…but…thanks for that, by the way."

"_Of course. So what happened afterwards?"_

"Well, I held Crimson Helm off while Oki pulled you out of the way…and…well, THIS happened…"

Turning slightly, he showed her the cut in his armor's leather padding, and the massive cauterized scar on the flesh beneath, prompting a gasp from the wolf.

"_Oh no…Alex…" _she breathed, a shocked look appearing on her face before it turned to one of guilt.

"Hey…don't worry about it," Alex said, noticing her expression. "It doesn't really hurt that much."

"_But…that's your first scar, isn't it?"_

"Yeah…" he said, nodding as he rubbed the back of his neck and leaned back against the cavern wall. "Yeah, it is. But seriously, don't worry about it. I'm not gonna drop dead from this or anything."

She gave him a look that bordered between pity and concern, but she slowly nodded.

"Anyways, after that, shit started hitting the fan, and I…uh…sorta 'hulked out', so to speak."

"_You mean…you changed again? Like you did in Kusa Village?"_

"And then some...it's a kitsune, Ammy. Aku-Hametsu has a kitsune spirit inside it."

"_What? You're certain of this?"  
><em>

"Cross my heart and hope to die. I even met him face-to-face earlier, while I was out of it."

"_I see…can we trust him?"_

"…I'm not sure…" Alex said at length. "So far, though, he's been…helpful. Why do you ask?"

"…_Because I haven't exactly had the best experiences with kitsune," _she answered somewhat reluctantly.

"What? ! You've met some before?" he exclaimed, standing back up straight.

"_Not some, only one…her name was Ninetails."_

"_Ninetails…"_ Alex suddenly heard Amunae breath, the fox's presence entering his mind again. _"Old One-Eye…I know her well."_

Amaterasu took clear note of the expression that suddenly crossed Alex's face without warning, as the young man reached up over his shoulder and drew out his sword.

"_You mind telling me what that little outburst of yours was about, fox-face?" _he snapped.

No answer. Alex could officially say that he was starting to get sick of the fox's convenient periods of silence.

"_What is it? Alex?" _Ammy asked, taking ginger step forward. _"Did you hear something?"_

"…Huh?" he said stupidly, suddenly realizing that she was talking to him. "Oh, uh…no, I was talking to Amunae."

"_Amunae?"_

"That's his name…Amunae."

"_Oh…well…tell him I said hello."_

Alex heard Amunae chuckling softly in the back of his mind, the fox clearly amused by the goddess's friendly gesture.

"Yeah, that's the thing. He kinda comes and goes, and listening seems to be an occasional issue for him."

"_Well, regardless, we are getting sidetracked…what happened after you changed again?"_

A quick sigh, followed by, "You know, that's the scary thing: _I can't remember._ First I'm getting swallowed up by all this fire, and the next, I'm lying on the ground next to Crimson Helm's burning pile of bones! All I can guess is that whatever Amunae does when he takes control, it involves copious amounts of ass-kickery."

"_Err…come again?"_

"Nevermind. After that…the cave started collapsing."

"_What? ! No! Then, the Gale Shrine…!"_

"It's gone. Smashed to bits and buried. There was nothing we could do to stop it."

"_Oh…poor Fuse…" _Ammy moaned. _"She held the closest connection to the shrine…losing it must have been so hard on her."_

"Yeah…I…guess it would," Alex answered somewhat nervously, considering that it had technically been his fault that the cave-in had occurred in the first place.

"_What happened next? How did you and I end up down here in these caves?"_

"Me and Oki were making a run for the elevator, seeing as how you were out of it and couldn't use your wind to get us to the main entrance. While we were crossing, though, a giant boulder fell on the walkway and smashed it out from under us. Oki and Issun caught the edge, but he couldn't hold onto you and you slipped from his grip."

"_Did they make it?"_

"Far as I can tell, yeah…but I was behind him, right on the edge, so I was pretty much the only one there to catch you. I started climbing, held you up to Oki, and then boom…we fell, and I guess I blacked out when we hit bottom, because when I came too, we were hanging for dear life from the section that had gotten wedged into the chasm."

"_Which brings us here…oh, goodness,"_ she finished with a disbelieving shake of her head. _"Is there anything else I should be aware of?"_

Alex briefly considered telling her about the Bandit Spider attack, but decided against it.

"Nope, nothing but a few spiders."

"_What kind of spiders?"_

"Oh you know, big ones, small ones, the usual."

"_Alright…well, at least we're not in any danger at the moment," _she said, going over to the bank of the underground river. _"When I woke up and started taking a drink from the river here, I spotted what looks like some kind of path that follows the side of the river down deeper. Wherever we are heading, it looks like this is the only option available to us."_

"Fine by me…anytime's a good time to get going, I guess," he agreed, gingerly stretching his leg and taking a few experimental steps with it before settling on a moderate limp. "Let's go."

Starting up their trek again, Alex slowly walked down the small path that seemed to separate the river from the cavern wall, just with enough for a person to walk on it single-file. Using the Fox-Fire Beads for light and the cavern wall for support, he forged ahead while Ammy did her best to keep up the pace behind him.

And they traveled this way, for what they supposed was half an hour, perhaps more.

Unfortunately, Amaterasu eventually came to the conclusion that her leg wasn't in as good a shape as Alex's leg was…his had merely been dislocated and painfully inserted back in, but her leg seemed to be in worse shape. He could still walk on his, but hers pained her with every step she took and made it difficult for her to concentrate on anything else.

She tried her best to ignore it…she was the one who had healed herself, even if only partially. She wasn't going to complain or ask for help after that, especially when Alex clearly had his own matters to worry about.

Her stubbornness only got her so far, however…a fact only proven when she suddenly stumbled over the uneven ground and lost her balance, falling forward and hitting the ground with a pained yelp as she landed on her bad leg.

Hearing this, Alex quickly turned around with concern written all over his face, and doubled back to her, crouching down beside her as best he could on the narrow pathway.

"_Oh, how clumsy of me…" _she finally said, trying to reassure him. _"You don't need to fawn over me, Alex, I'm alright."_

"Sure doesn't sound like it," he said after a moment and held out his hand. "Here, let me take a look at it."

She stared at him, a doubtful look on her face. He stared back with nothing but real concern for her condition, his hand still outstretched.

"Look, I'm not gonna bite or anything…actually, I should probably ask you not to bite me!" he laughed, a smirk appearing on his face.

She continued to stare at his offered hand…

(_Spirited Away OST – The Name of Life_)

…and after a moment, gently raised her paw into it, wincing slightly as he began to feel about the sensitive limb as gently as he could.

As he performed his "examination", she kept her gaze focused entirely on his face, watching his eyes while he worked.

She could see the stress behind them…could see just how tense he was, likely after everything that had happened in the recent past.

And yet, he was still trying. Still giving it his all, even as he methodically worked his way up the limb while his bright, intelligent eyes peered searchingly at it in the dim, flickering glow of the rosary around his arm.

"_That is certainly new…" _she said to herself, as her gaze lingered on the weapon. _"Did he get it the same way that he got his cloak from the Spider Queen?"_

"Well, I'm no vet…but it's definitely not broken," Alex said after a minute of his "examination". "You've probably just got a cracked bone or something…it's not bad, but it's not good either."

"_You can tell?"_ she asked him, surprised by his knowledge.

"Kinda…my dad and I used to go hiking a lot, and he'd teach me all sorts of things about living off the land and taking care of myself…even if that meant treating my own injuries."

"_Oh…I never knew that about you, Alex."_

"Yeah, well…I haven't exactly been an open book, honestly," he chuckled. "Don't worry though; I can do a patch-job on this at the very least."

Pulling out Aku-Hametsu, Alex grabbed a length of his billowy Spidersilk Cloak and began cutting along the trailing edge of the fabric with the sword, working methodically by rosary light.

"_Oh, Alex, you're going to ruin your fine cloak!"_ she said, a hint of a smile on her lupine face.

"Oh no!" he muttered sarcastically, shaking his head as he cut several thin strips out. "Looks like I'll have to get a new one!"

After washing them in the river and laying them out, he looked about for something to use as a brace for the splint. The disappointing lack of wooden sticks, the typical choice for impromptu splints, made things difficult however.

"Hmm…wait, I got it!" he said, snapping his fingers. Reaching to his right forearm, he undid the leather buckles holding his wrist guard in place and pulled it off, slipping it under Amaterasu's limb. As he figured, the leather straps wouldn't cinch tight enough around the skinny leg, so he used the long strips he had cut from his cloak to start tying it on.

"Let me know if it starts hurting," he said, tightening the knot on the first and straightening the limb out in the process.

"…_Actually…it feels a little better now…"_

"Yeah? Heh…guess that's a relief for both of us then," he replied, tying the second strip into place and making sure it was snug.

She smiled reassuringly. _"I think you did very well, Alex."_

"Sure…thanks."

He suddenly realized that he had looked up, straight into her deep amber eyes, and he felt the heat rising in his face despite the chill of the cave.

"I…uh…t-that oughtta do it…" he managed to stammer, standing up and looking away suddenly, fervently hoping that Ammy hadn't seen the redness of his face in the blue light of his rosary.

She stared at him, appearing slightly confused by his stutter, but otherwise didn't say anything. Standing up, she gingerly tested her footing and tried taking a few steps, but ended up whimpering slightly as she kept her paw off the ground and stood on her good one.

"…_I still can't walk on it," _she said after a moment. _"Thank you for the splint, but it seems I'll just have to make do with three legs for now…"_

"Well, actually…" Alex began, feeling the odd protectiveness rising up in him again, despite attempts to push it down and save what was left of his composure as Ammy stared up at him.

"…My leg's not that bad…if you want, I could…uh…carry you…" he mumbled before trailing off.

"_You don't have to do that Alex. I can manage on my own,"_ she said determinedly, taking a few limping hops forward as she started off.

Seeing her walk like that broke Alex's conviction to keep her wish, and he caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Look, Ammy…" he began, the wolf turning to look at him. "I know that we can both take care of ourselves and all that, but…for now, let's just shelve our pride and focus on surviving, alright? I've already carried you this far, and I can do it some more. It's no skin off my back, honest."

She slowly looked away, staring at the rough and rocky ground before her.

Why was he doing this, she wondered? Alex certainly had skill and conviction, but even so…it seemed like he was really pushing himself, just to help her.

She was grateful for his help – she honestly was – but she was worried that the young man might overexert himself if he kept this up…because from what she could tell from looking at him, with his scar, bruises and cuts, it looked like he had been through the Land of Darkness and back.

"…_Only if you think you can handle it," _she said after a moment.

Nodding, he reached out with both arms and gently picked her up, turning her over so she was on her back with all four paws upraised. Letting out a strained grunt as he began to stand up, struggling against both his bad leg and her weight, he straightened out with a heavy gasp of air that he did his best to disguise, so as not to worry her.

"Is that comfortable enough?" he asked once he caught his breath.

She nodded. _"Yes…thank you, Alex."_

"Hey, it's nothing."

But it wasn't just nothing, and she knew it.

And so he began to walk, gently carrying the white wolf in his arms as he tromped down the narrow pathway along the side of the underground river. Both of them remained silent during this time, with only the sound of rushing water nearby to fill the empty air between them. In fact, the only communication they really shared was when Alex tripped and stumbled a bit, causing Amaterasu to look up at him with concern.

A pained look crossed his features for a split second, but he quickly masked it with a reassuring smile to her as he set off again.

"_It's so odd…"_ she thought to herself, as she looked back to the path ahead. _"…I think I've learned more about Alex in the last few minutes than I did back when I first met him in the Tsuta Ruins."_

Thinking about it, she realized at that moment how little she actually knew about Alex himself, other than what she had observed. She knew enough about the world he had come from, given their discussions shortly after they had met, but she knew nothing about his past or upbringing.

He had mentioned his father…maybe that was a good place to start?

"_You said that your father taught you all those things about looking after yourself…what kind of man was he?"_ she asked.

Alex looked down at her, slightly surprised by the sudden question, but he looked back up at the trail as a smirk crossed his face.

"I guess…you could say that he was a real 'try-hard' kind of guy," he said. "Someone you could almost always count on, because no matter what he did, he pretty much gave it his all every time."

"_How so?"_

(_Trauma Center: Second Opinion OST - Hopeless_)

The smirk dissappeard as soon as it had come, replaced by a stoic expression. "Well…there was this one time, when we were hiking in Lake Tahoe…I lost my footing on a narrow trail and fell over the side. It was a long way down, and when I hit bottom…_crack! _Broke my leg."

"_You mean, this isn't the first time you've hurt your leg?"_

"Nope, and I doubt it'll be the last…anyways, the moment it happened, I knew I was in deep shit. My leg was broken, I couldn't pull myself out of wherever the hell I had landed, and I was all by myself in the middle of the freakin' woods."

"_That must have been frightening for you…"_

He nodded. "I was just a kid, then, barely into my teens…I wasn't exactly holding back when I started yelling and screaming for help."

He sighed, a somber look on his face as he relived the memory, and Amaterasu could see the pain from that day in his eyes.

"No matter how much I yelled, no one answered…I seriously thought I was going to die out there."

"_But you didn't."_

"Nope…somewhere along the line, I think I lost consciousness…and the next thing I know, my dad's right there next to me, pulling me out of the thicket I landed in. Tore some strips off his shirt, grabbed a couple sticks, and splinted my leg right then and there. Then he hoists me over his shoulders and starts hiking back towards the car…all ten miles."

"_Ten miles? !"_

"Yeah…I was hurting too much to really notice at the time…but when we finally got back to the car, he just put me in the back, and drove me to the nearest hospital. Didn't say a word the whole time…he just did it because he knew he had to…and because he was probably on the verge of hyperventilation at the time from breathing so hard."

He stopped walking, and Ammy looked at him curiously.

"You know what's sad, Ammy…? I never thanked him for that. I should have, but…it never crossed my mind at the time."

"_Do not worry, Alex…I'm sure he understood."_

"…Yeah…maybe…" Alex sighed, unsure of whether he really believed that or not.

Ever since Alex had snapped at her to stay out of his mind, Amaterasu had done just that…but she didn't need telepathy to see that something was eating at Alex on the inside. Something that hung over him like a dark cloud…something that he had disguised remarkably well up to this point.

"_Alex…"_

"Come on, let's keep moving," he interrupted, starting his walk up again. She fell silent at that, somehow understanding that Alex wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

More silence, with the only sounds being the water and the tromping of his boots. The silence was somewhat comforting, however…it left him to his thoughts.

…Like why he had blushed when he had met Ammy's gaze after splinting her paw.

"_God dammit…why am I thinking like this all the sudden?"_ he thought to himself, suddenly afraid to meet the wolf's gaze again and pointedly staring straight ahead. _"I just told myself yesterday, if this even IS the day after, that it wouldn't work like that! And yet, my mind keeps wandering over to it!"_

He briefly considered hitting the side of his head with the ball of his palm, but decided against it for the fact that he was holding Ammy at the moment.

"_Look, Alex…"_ he told himself. _"I know you feel guilty about what happened to her, when she was defending you after your stupid mistake, and I can understand that you want to help her to try and make up for it! But this isn't right and you know it!"_

"_Think, you idiot! THINK!" _he continued to berate himself.

"_She's a wolf! She's a goddess! And she's practically taken, too! It's ok for Oki, because he can turn into a wolf, but YOU…you're just a human being! You can't pull any of that nature-defying crazy shit!"_

"_Yes, you like her! And yes, she probably likes you too…but this just won't work! Even if she COULD turn into a human, you're just not the kind of guy who steps into the middle of a relationship in progress!"_

"_Say it again, and this time, beat it into your thick skull! You two are just FRIENDS! Nothing else! NOTHING ELSE!"_

"…_Alex?" _Ammy's cool breeze of a voice said in his mind, suddenly quelling the furious tempest of angry thoughts. _"You seem distracted by something. Is everything alright?"_

He avoided her gaze, mumbling, "Yeah…sure…whatever…" and kept walking.

"_You're just friends…nothing else…" _he told himself again, as he walked deeper into the darkness.

"_Just friends…"_

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I'm (sorta) going there. Problem, officer?<strong>

**Rate, review, and I'll see you next time! And again, don't forget to check out the link on my page for the full-sized cover art!**


	30. Desperate Measures

**Well, I DID say I was going to try and get this up sooner, right? It's not exactly a full week early, but it's still early, right? Right? !**

**Well whatever. The important thing is, the plot is finally moving along again! And this time, with 100% more awkward, romantic subplot. What a deal!**

**(Ok, not really a deal, but you get what I mean. Just read the chapter while I hit my head against the wall...)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29: Desperate Measures<strong>

"_Oh great…NOW where the hell are we?"_

Still cradling Ammy in his arms, Alex had stopped at the opening to yet another large cavern within this seemingly endless maze of tunnels, the large river running by to his left and pouring into the room before him.

What he saw within the flickering light of the Fox-Fire Beads was some kind of large circular pool in the center of the cavern's stone floor, the water from the large underground river next to them pouring into it and filling it up at the exact same time that another river leading _out_ of the pool flowed away into another tunnel across the room. The body of water itself was roughly the size of a household swimming pool, but far less refined, if it's jagged and roughly eroded edges were any indication.

"_Huh…that's kinda cool. Must've formed here from eons of erosion, or however the hell they say it in those nature programs,"_ Alex thought to himself. _"Then again, a LOT of these tunnels must be pretty old. I might be making a new discovery without even knowing it!"_

The thought made him chuckle, which in turn made Amaterasu look up curiously at him.

"_Yeah, right…our lives are in danger, and all I can think about is all the stuff we're finding down here. Way to stay focused on survival, dumbass…"_

Finished with berating himself to his own amusement, Alex made his way down the sloped path in front of him into the main area of the cavern…and quickly made another discovery.

"Uh…Ammy? Is it just me, or do these rocks look like they have _stairs_ carved into them?"

She looked down from his arms, and almost immediately confirmed it with a nod. _"You're right…these ARE stairs, and they do not seem to have naturally formed, either."_

"Yeah..." Alex muttered, bending down for a closer look. "From the looks of it, I'd say that someone probably _carved_ these out. With tools."

"_Then…are we nearing civilization?"_ Ammy mused, mostly to herself, but loudly enough that Alex heard it too.

"Down HERE? In these caves? I _seriously _doubt that, Ammy. The only things we've seen down here are rocks, rocks, and more rocks!"

"_I know, but…doesn't it strike you as odd that we would find such a thing down here, where no intelligent life exists?"_

"…Yeah, it does," he conceded, understanding her point. "But…let's not assume anything until we see it with our own eyes, ok?"

She nodded, and Alex made his way down onto the path that led around the pool of water towards the exit tunnel on the other side. Stopping for a break at Ammy's insistence (which Alex guessed was probably more for _his_ sake and not her own), the young man put the white wolf down and got himself a quick drink from the water.

"Ice cold, as always…" he muttered, rubbing his frigid gauntleted hands together as his breath misted in the air. "Friggin' everything down here is ice cold. What I wouldn't give for a fire or some hot chocolate or something…"

"_I know what you mean,"_ Ammy agreed, lying down beside him while being careful not to aggravate her splinted leg. _"If only my powers were working again, I could remedy the situation with but a flick of my tail."_

"Oh, yeah, I've been wondering about that. Why haven't your powers come back yet? And on that subject, why'd they even disappear in the first place?"

She looked down into the water, at her plain and very un-goddess-like appearance, and sighed.

"_It is the one weakness that all Brush Gods share…"_ she began slowly. _"Our powers over the elements are great, yes…but unlike what the legends say, they are not limitless."_

"You mean there's an actual _limit_ on how much ink you can throw around?"

She nodded grimly. _"Ink fuels our brush techniques, which in turn is what gives us our power over the world around us…hence our name of 'Brush Gods'. We can easily use them without exhausting ourselves, so long as we use the power sparingly and only when it is needed. Use it too much and we lose it…we quite literally run out of ink."_

"Huh…" Alex nodded in realization. "Is that what happened when you spammed all those power slashes at Orochi's specter?"

"_It should be rather obvious,"_ she answered, directing his gaze to her reflection in the pool of water before them. _"All of the designs in my fur that mark me as a divine being have vanished along with my divine instruments…they will only return when my powers do."_

"Then how long will it be until they come back?"

She sighed again, and Alex could see her already grim look turn apprehensive. _"…That is where you and I remain stuck in this chain of logic. My powers normally return in seconds…but they still remain inactive, even after waking up."_

"You mean this has never happened before?"

"_Not like this, no," _she answered, shaking her head. _"…I can only guess that, when Crimson Helm knocked me unconscious in my vulnerable state, my powers must have been – for lack of a better word – '_stunned'."

"So where does that leave you? You're gonna get them back eventually, right?"

"_I can still feel the power inside me, slowly growing stronger, but still far from recovered. I have no doubt they will return…it will only take some time. Another day or two, perhaps."_

A smirk crossed over her lupine face at those words, and she turned to look at him.

"_Until then, it seems I will have to rely on my 'brave hero' to sweep me off my feet and protect me."_

"Wha-! I…but…!" he stammered, feeling the heat rocket back up into his face again as a profoundly horrified look crossed over it.

She began laughing telepathically, outwardly panting as her tail excitedly swept back and forth.

"_Ha ha ha! I'm only joking, Alex! Honestly, if your face turns any more red, it's going to heat up this cave by itself!"_

"I…uh…yeah…sure…ok…" Alex barely managed to cohesively reply, suddenly feeling very warm despite the coolness of the cave. Fortunately for him, she seemed not to have picked up on the thoughts he had recently had regarding her…

After a few intense seconds of him internally convincing himself that she really _was_ joking, Alex mustered the courage to pick her back up again and shakily continue down the path towards the cave on the other side, the newfound tenseness in his body making Amaterasu suddenly wonder if her joke had rattled Alex more than she thought.

That was when they finally hit their first dead-end.

Looking into this tunnel, Alex sought to continue forward, but found his efforts rebuffed by yet another obstacle in his path: another cave-in. Boulders of varying sizes, and each one too large for either of them to move in their weakened states, blocked the path ahead, leaving only just enough room for the second river flowing by them to sneak through the cracks.

"Well, that's just _dandy…_" Alex spat out disgustedly, after a futile moment of grunting and pushing with his shoulder. "We're stuck in here! No way we're moving all these rocks!"

"_Easy, Alex…"_ Ammy muttered, trying to ease his obvious tension. _"There must be another way out of these caverns…something that we just don't know about."_

"Well where exactly would that be, Ammy? ! Huh? !" Alex snapped, his stress finally getting the better of him as he kicked the rocks with his good leg. "As far as I can tell, we've gone the only damn way there is through these god-forsaken tunnels of goddamn _doom! _If you've got any ideas, then _share them_ by all freakin' means, 'cause I'm sure as hell listening!"

"_Calm yourself, young one…"_ Alex suddenly heard Amunae speak calmly in his mind, the fox's presence taking on a soothing sort of aspect. _"Silence the anger in your mind, and remember how you got this far in the first place."_

Upon hearing the fox's voice, Alex closed his mouth before he yelled at Ammy anymore and took several deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

"Right…" he breathed, leaning back up against the cave wall behind him. "…Sorry, Ammy."

"_It's alright, Alex. Let us hear what your…'friend'…has to say."_

It surprised both of them when Amunae chose that exact moment to say, _"My thanks, Lightbringer,"_ directly to her.

"_I…oh my…"_ she breathed in surprise as the fox's ancient presence met her own. _"So…Alex was telling the truth, then?"_

"_That he was…it is a pleasure to finally speak to you directly, Lightbringer. And 'hello' to you as well," _he added with a very kitsune-like chuckle.

"_Uh, hey, guys?" _Alex said. _"I'm right here, you know. And do you mind telling me how to get out of this hell-hole, Amunae? 'Cause I'm REALLY starting to get sick of all this darkness."_

"_If you wish to take two steps forward, young one, sometimes you must take a single step back."_

"_Wasn't exactly asking for another riddle, fox-face!"_ Alex snapped.

"_That is all I will say on the matter. I trust you will find the answer soon enough."_

"_Oh no, not this time!"_ Alex responded angrily, trying to get a mental grip on the fox's presence before it slipped away again._ "You're not getting away until you give me a straight answer, you piece of - !"_

"_Wait, Alex, look!" _Ammy interrupted, looking around his arm behind them. _"He was right! I can see something back there, over the tunnel exit we came out of!"_

In the brief lapse of concentration Alex had at her words, Amunae's presence managed to slip away again, and the aggravated hiss of air that came out between his tightly pressed lips could only begin to tell what kind of irritation was burning him up on the inside. Taking several deeps breaths to calm himself before he went bonkers, Alex eventually managed to recover enough to turn around and look at the location in question.

"_Hey, she's right…there IS something up there. But what, exactly? I can't see it in all this dark…"_

Setting Ammy down gently, Alex walked past her back up the carved out stairs and held his lit rosary up into the darkened section of the cavern in order to see what the shadows were hiding.

"_Wait…what kind of device is this?"_

Looking at it, Alex confirmed that there was definitely something there: some kind of arched, rectangular "slot" seemed to have been fitted into the cave ceiling just inside the opening, taking up a space equal to the full width of the cave opening. Getting a grip on one of the rocks jutting out from the wall, Alex leaned out over the river and looked up inside the "slot".

Sure enough, there was something inside it…something heavy looking.

"_See anything? !"_ Ammy yelled over the roar of the water.

"Yeah! Looks like some kind of big carved stone inside this slot over the river here!" he yelled. "Might be some kind of dam!"

"_A dam? To cut off the flow of water?"_

"Looks like it!" Reaching up into the slot with his rosary hand and preparing himself to run in case things got dangerous, Alex tried to get a grip on the carved stone inside the slot. The surface of the rock was too smooth and snugly fitted to get a hold on with his gauntleted hand, however, causing his fingers to slip off before he could try and pull on it.

"Ngh!" he gasped, falling back against the cave wall and grabbing as his aching leg, not yet ready to support him at such odd angles for any period of time. "No good! I can't get a grip!"

"_Alex! Over here! I've found something!"_

Wiping the cold water spray off his face as best he could, Alex looked out of the cave entrance and saw, to the left, the white wolf standing by what looked like…

…a lever? _Here?_

"_Damn…" _he thought, limping out of the cave towards her. _"Looks like Amunae WAS telling the truth…I never would have known that was there if we hadn't been looking for something like it…well, if I know my video game logic, that lever might just be the key to setting this weird dam device in place."_

Coming up to her, he asked, "Do you think this is going to do anything? I mean, so we'll cut the water flow off…what's that going to accomplish?"

"_I don't know, Alex…and I won't until we at least try," _she answered, looking up expectantly at him.

Staring at her for a moment, he eventually nodded. Grabbing onto the lever, Alex could feel the age in the device's wood handle as he began to pull back on it, the lever holding a tremendous amount of resistance in it as he strained.

"Could use…a hand…Ammy!" he grunted out, and the white wolf responded by biting into his cloak and pulling backwards with him. Together, the two of them tugged as hard as they could, until finally…

_SNAP!_

The lever suddenly broke off in his hands, and Alex violently stumbled backwards, twisting himself around in a futile attempt to keep his balance, broken lever piece flying from his hands as he fell forward and landed right on top of a stunned Amaterasu, making her yelp in surprise.

Alex coughed once, mostly in delayed surprise, and slowly pushed himself up…until he realized that he was lying on top of Ammy, and looking her right in the face, the two of them in a similar position that her and Oki had been in during the incident on the mountain cliffs near the Kusa Windmill.

An oddly strained sound that Amaterasu had never heard before came out of Alex at that moment, and fast as lightening, he frantically pushed himself up and off her, tensely jogging off a short ways, while at the same time hurriedly brushing his front off like he had gotten something infectious on him.

"_Whoa boy! Calm down, Grey, calm down! That wasn't anything! Whoo geez!" _he thought to himself repeatedly, despite the fact that it seriously felt like he had violated some unspoken rule or something like that. He knew it had happened by complete accident, but to him, it sure as hell didn't feel like it! _"Son of a bitch…it's like the moment I started thinking like this, fate started conspiring against me! Son of a bitch!"_

During this rather uncomfortable time for him, Ammy had gotten back up and shook herself off, watching him curiously as he began half-marching, half-jogging around, appearing to be working off some kind of nervous energy while at the same time clearly trying to make it appear as though nothing had happened.

Why would he be so nervous about something like this, she wondered?

Was Alex honestly shy enough that even the simply accidental and momentary close-contact of their bodies made him act like this?

It would certainly make sense…Alex had his rough spots of course, but she had mostly found the young man to be polite enough around members of the opposite gender. If bodily contact this close made him nearly lose it, then well…perhaps the young man was just extremely modest.

But then again, as far as she could remember, he had never acted this way before. She had noticed his nervousness around Sakuya, whenever the tree sprite had drawn close to him…but then again, everyone acted like that when the often scantily-clad woman entered their view.

Not like this however…what made this time different, she wondered?

"Uh…well, I, uh…th-thanks for…uh…breaking my fall…Ammy," she heard him finally speak, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Uh…you ok? I didn't hurt your leg, did I?"

She looked pointedly at him, searching his eyes for something, _anything_ that could tell her about his behavior besides the copious amounts of nervousness and embarrassment.

Nothing. As she had already guessed, he seemed to have remarkable skill in hiding things that he didn't want others to know about.

"_No…I think I'm alright,"_ she finally answered. _"Just a little rattled is all."_

"Well…I don't blame you. I'm probably pretty heavy in all this armor," he remarked, forcing a nervous laugh while gesturing at himself.

"_So what do we do now?"_ she asked.

"Should be easy enough to deal with…the wood was just really old and weak is all. We just need to replace the handle and we're good."

Drawing out Aku-Hametsu, Alex stood over where the wooden handle had protruded from the ground and, raising the sword into a downward stabbing position, jammed it into the device as hard as he could with a loud _crack!_

"_Oh, I see now!"_ she said, catching on. _"Very resourceful thinking, Alex."_

He nodded, and using the impromptu "lever", he strained against the device again, this time getting results as a heavy _clacka-clacka-clacka_ reached their ears.

When the sword had reached its position on the other side, a heavy _thud_ reverberated through the cavern, followed by the sound of stone grinding against stone as a heavy slab suddenly dropped out of the large slot Alex had been inspecting earlier. Slamming into the river below and spraying ice-cold water everywhere, the slab completely filled up the cave's opening, bringing the flow to an immediate stop and cutting off the giant pool's water supply.

After Alex yanked Aku-Hametsu out of the lever device, both of them watched with interest as the water level in the pool slowly began to lower, the second river across the way also losing its supply of water and slowly emptying out. With the roar of flowing water cut off, Alex and Amaterasu could suddenly hear a very distinctive "draining" sound from somewhere below them, the water in the pool obviously going out though some opening within it.

Before long, they spotted something.

"Look…more stairs," Alex remarked, looking over the edge and spotting more of the carved-out stairs, spiraling around the entire circumference of the massive pit that was beginning to reveal itself as the water continued to empty out. They led straight down, deep into the wet, dark shadows at the lowest depths of the pit.

"Man, we gotta go down _there?_" Alex breathed nervously. "I've got a really bad feeling about this…"

"_Steady, young one,"_ Amunae spoke up, sounding oddly pleased for some reason. _"What we all seek is down there…and we have little choice but to continue forward."_

"_Are you really sure about that, Amunae? I don't like the idea of going down into a dark and wet pit, which is probably filled with all sorts of amphibious creepy-crawlies that want to eat me for lunch…"_

"_Do not worry…we go to a sacred place. There will be none of these 'creepy-crawlies' to hinder you."_

"_Sacred…?" _Alex thought to himself. _"What does he mean 'sacred'? Just where the hell is he leading me?"_

"_Well?"_ Ammy spoke up.

"According to him, we've got no other choice. We're going deeper."

"_Oh dear…"_ Ammy sighed, clearing feeling the same way about the deep pit as Alex was.

"Don't worry. I'll carry you if you're worried about getting your precious little paws wet," he said with a smirk.

"_Why, I never!" _she replied with mock pettiness.

Moments later, she was in his arms again, as the young man slowly made his way down the dripping wet staircase that wound around the inside of the deep pit into the darkness below. Again, nothing too eventful happened, aside from when Alex slipped on the wet stone and teetered for a frightening moment before thankfully recovering his balance.

The faintly echoing sound of dripping water and his boots scraping against the wet stone was all that they heard when they finally reached bottom several minutes later, Alex shivering slightly from the cold drops of water that were falling on him and Ammy. The ground at the bottom of the pit, as well as most of the surrounding stone on the walls, was perfectly smooth, no doubt from the constant presence of the water that had once filled it.

They were treading on ancient earth, possibly thousands of years old…but that was the last thing on Alex's mind when he noticed another tunnel entrance at the bottom, leading away from the pit to more unknown things.

"_Man, I'm getting déjà vu here," _he thought irritably, thinking back to the cave entrance at the bottom of the Gale Shrine chasm. Shrugging it off, he readjusted his grip on Ammy and set off into the tunnel, still dripping wet from all the water that had recently been there.

"_What do you think we'll find down here?"_ Ammy asked him.

"I don't know…Amunae was kinda mum on that," he responded, his breath misting in the freezing air. It was possibly even _colder_ down here than it was in the rest of the cave, most likely due to the recent presence of the almost freezing water that had filled this place. "But he said that it was 'sacred'…so it might be safe to stop and rest there for a while."

"_That will certainly be welcome…"_ she sighed, sounding relived.

"Why are _you_ so happy?" he chuckled. "I've been carrying you this whole time, remember?"

"_I meant for you,"_ she answered simply.

"…Oh…ok…" he muttered, his smile fading.

"…_Is there something wrong, Alex?"_ she asked, now feeling concerned.

"No, it's just…well…I appreciate the concern, but I'm seriously fine, Ammy. You don't need to worry so much about me!"

"_I remember hearing you saying something similar to Ishi, once…but she helped you anyways. Is it customary from where you come from to refuse help? Is it seen as a sign of weakness among the people of your world, perhaps?"_

"W-what? ! No! Of course not!"

"_Then why are you pushing yourself so hard to help me when you could clearly use some help yourself?"_

Alex stopped walking, and Ammy looked up at him, only to be met with the guiltiest look she had ever seen on the face of a human being before.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath, before letting it out slowly.

"It's because…it's my fault, Ammy," he finally said. "…It's my fault we're down here in this mess."

"_Why, what on earth do you mean, Alex?"_ she said confusedly.

"Remember, right before Orochi's specter showed up? We were kicking Crimson Helm's ass sideways, and had him right on the ropes?"

Ammy nodded, still not understanding.

"We could've just about ended the fight right there…but…but then…"

He swallowed hard, unable to continue for the moment.

"_But then…you charged straight in…I remember that,"_ Ammy finished for him. _"You clearly thought that Crimson Helm would be an easy finish, so you ran in alone…and triggered the trap that the demon had set."_

Alex nodded, but didn't meet her gaze.

"_And then Orochi's specter came and attacked you…and I went in to save you from him."_

Another nod, before he said, "And then Crimson Helm hit you with that charge…you couldn't even defend yourself from how weakened you were. Do you see it now, Ammy? ! It was because of ME that you were hurt and knocked unconscious, it was because of ME that we had to carry you out, it was because of ME that Oki couldn't save you, and it's because of ME that we're trapped down here in this mess now, with no way out as far as I can see!"

His breath came out in heavy clouds of mist, and Ammy could almost feel the swell of angry emotions in his chest…all of them directed at himself.

"I was just a big, friggin' idiot…and look where it's gotten us…absolutely _nowhere!"_ he snapped.

There was silence between them after that. Nothing but the sound of dripping water reached them within the faint blue glow of Alex's rosary.

"_Alex…put me down for a moment,"_ she said suddenly, though her tone remained gentle.

"…W-what?"

"_Put me down, please…there is something I need to say."_

Minor confusion crossed over his face, but he complied, bending down as best he could with his damaged leg and letting her roll out of his arms onto her own four paws.

"_Now sit down," _she commanded.

"…But-"

"_Sit down, Alex."_

He did just that, sitting down on the wet and rocky ground and resting his arms on his knees.

Ammy suddenly surprised him by limping right up to him and staring him straight in the eyes, her own amber-colored ones fully capturing his attention.

"_Listen to me, Alex…"_ her cool breeze of a voice said in his mind. _"I know that you feel responsible for what happened during that battle, and for what happened to me as well…but I tell you now, that I absolutely do NOT blame you for what came to pass as a result of your actions."_

"But, Ammy…!"

"_Do not even THINK of blaming yourself, either. Even though you are already a man at your age, you are still young, and NONE of this is your fault."_

"Ammy…I…"

"_If you truly wish to help me, Alex, then please...promise me that you will not kill yourself just for my expense. I know you care for my safety Alex, but that caring will not mean much if you push yourself too hard!"_

"…"

"_Just promise me Alex. Please, just promise me!"_

Man and wolf both continued to sit there, just staring at each other.

No more words, no more gestures, no more assertiveness.

Just sitting and staring.

Finally, Alex let off a sigh as he finally broke their gaze and looked down at his knees.

"…Alright…I promise."

She smiled her typical wolfish smile, and gave him a big wet lick across the cheek.

"_Thank you, Alex…you have to understand, I care just as much about your own safety as you do about mine."_

He looked back up at her, and smiled as well.

"I know, and…I appreciate it. I-I really do…"

He looked like he really wanted to say something, and she stared into his bright eyes as she waited for an answer.

"Ah…still, you probably shouldn't walk on that leg though," he finally said.

"…_Oh…" _she said, sounding a little put-off. She quickly masked it behind another lupine smile, and said, _"Alright…I will give you that much."_

"Then let's get going."

He began moving to pick her up again, when it happened.

_Crash._ He heard it far off in the distance…it sounded like stone breaking apart.

What worried him though was the sudden roar that accompanied it…quiet at first, but quickly gaining volume as he realized that whatever was causing the sound was racing right for them.

"…_What was that?"_ Ammy whispered, the slightest hint of worry tinting her voice.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to the two companions, the slab of stone holding back the water had become far too old to withstand the building pressure of the cut-off river raging behind it. Untold centuries of usage had given it the durability of rotten wood, and with a mighty 'CRASH!', the slab finally reached the end of its days, shattering apart under the strain and releasing a tidal wave of freezing cold water back into the pit below.<p>

* * *

><p>The cavern began to rumble, and looking down, Alex spotted tiny trickles of water starting to flow past his boots.<p>

"Uh oh…" he breathed, slowly turning to look back the way they had come.

_FWOOSH!_ As if on cue, a massive tidal wave of water came blasting around the corner behind them, furiously churning as it raced towards them with blinding speed.

"SHIT!" Alex yelled, immediately breaking into as fast a run as he could manage with his injured leg.

Unfortunately, the flow of water was much too fast for the injured young man to outrun, and with a frightened yell, Alex suddenly felt himself swept off his as the wave struck him in the back and immediately engulfed him within its frigidity. Tumbling about in a confused frenzy of bubbles and sudden lack of orientation, Alex flailed about as he was thrown against the rock walls with tremendous force. His armor cushioned him against the heavy blows, but each consecutive hit was enough to drive out more and more of the breath he was holding, and Alex realized in a panic that he needed to surface quickly or risk drowning.

He suddenly felt a tug on the cloak around his neck, and before he realized what was happening, his head broke through the surface of the water, the young man gasping for air and trying to wipe the water from his eyes as he blindly grabbed for a handhold on the cave wall.

What he grabbed onto instead was a thoroughly soaked fur coat, Amaterasu having somehow found him in the flow of water and dragged him to the surface for air. Even now, she maintained a powerful grip on the cloak around his neck with her jaws, swimming against the current as she struggled to keep both their heads above the water.

"_HOLD ON! DON'T LET GO!"_ she yelled at him, as another swell of water slammed into them and sent them below again.

Seconds passed, and another cascade of water flew into the air as they broke the surface again, Alex hacking and coughing from the water that had found its way into his lungs.

The tunnel had not yet been completely filled, but the surface level was rising at a rapid pace as water continued to pour into the cave. Soon, they'd have no air pockets whatsoever, and if they didn't get out of the cave _soon…_

"_Start swimming!"_ she yelled. _"We have to get out of this tunnel before it fills!"_

Not even taking the time to acknowledge her, Alex turned around and began to swim with the current alongside her, trying his best to keep them from slamming into the cave walls as they raced along at a breakneck pace.

There was no way of telling how long the tunnel was, and Alex realized with a sinking feeling that they was a very possible chance of them drowning down here in these god-forsaken caves.

"_Doesn't matter…we still have to try!"_ he yelled at himself, the thought driving him onwards as they deflected off the wall and raced around a long bend in the tunnel.

Suddenly, another unexpected swell hit them from behind. Alex was caught off guard and sent tumbling around once more…and he distinctly felt Ammy's grip on his cloak suddenly disappear.

This time gathering enough of his wits to kick off the ground of the tunnel, Alex broke through the surface again and immediately searched around for signs of the white wolf's fur coat.

"Ammy!" he yelled, getting cut off as water slapped him across the face and got in his mouth. "AMMY!"

Suddenly, he was falling.

Falling.

_Falling._

Time seemed to slow as the world around him spun.

He tumbled about in free-fall, his rosary still attached to his arm and whipping about wildly.

The wind whistled past his ears as he picked up speed.

He noticed the twisting cascades of water as they fell with him…fell towards the ground that was far, far below them.

Straight towards another, truly _gigantic _river.

_SPLASH!_

The surface of the giant river was interrupted for only a few seconds, the ripples slowly fading away. Water from the tunnel behind, pouring out from the opening in the wall far above the large river, near the incredibly high cavern ceiling, began to feed into it once more, strengthening its flow once more.

And it continued along its centuries-old passage.

* * *

><p>"<em>Amunae…is this the place?" the young human asked, appearing older than his sixteen year old self.<em>

_How he had grown, Amunae thought to himself. Humans and their rapid aging…_

"_Yes__, young Raikoh...this is the true secret of the Takeda," the old fox finally said, speaking to the human though his mind as he looked about with interest while walking down the smooth stone road. "This is, as you humans often say, 'where the magic happens.'"_

"_So…this is really it then? This is where my father and his warriors stage the war effort?"_

"_Indeed. And it is where you shall do the same, once your training is complete. Speaking of which, you have been doing quite well lately…far more quickly than a great deal of your ancestors."_

"_I have?" Raikoh chuckled, rubbing the facial hair on his chin. "I barely noticed."_

_Amunae harrumphed, making the young man mentally laugh, with only a smile to show on his face outwardly._

"_Speak what you will, young one, but I assure you, nothing is more important to me right now other than making sure that you are prepared for the trials ahead."_

_Raikoh only smiled again, nodding in recognition towards the curt bow that of one of the nearby soldiers gave him._

"_At the very least, will you PLEASE mind the river?" Amunae remarked, as Raikoh crossed the nearby wooden bridge leading over the very wide body of water. "I would rather avoid an embarrassing incident like the one your great-great grandfather had when HE was the Sword-Wielder."_

"_No promises," the young man remarked, and within the sword, Amunae shook his head irritably, deciding to leave it at that._

* * *

><p>Several bubbles appeared on the surface of the slowly flowing river…mere seconds before a heavy splash broke the surface, followed by heavy gasping and coughing as Alex weakly struggled to keep his head above the freezing water. It was so cold that there may as well have been <em>ice <em>floating around in it: he could feel the intense chill seeping through the leather padding of his armor, sapping his strength and making it more and more difficult to stay up.

"_Jesus Christ, that was so damn close…where's Ammy?"_ he thought to himself, pushing his head further out of the water and looking around for the white wolf.

"AMMY!" he called out…and subsequently stopped when he realized where he was.

"What the hell…?" he breathed.

The first thing he realized was that the river wasn't naturally formed…by all appearances, it looked _manmade._ The water was flowing through an extremely wide trench, both sides walled in with what looked like crafted brick and stretching up above him far beyond his reach. It reminded him of the moats that usually were seen surrounding the elaborate castles in Feudal Japan. In the distance, he could actually see what looked like large wooden bridges, spaced out evenly over the river.

What he saw past the river and the bridges surprised him even more.

There were _buildings_ here, he realized. A huge number of them, large and small, ranging from what looked like normal homes, to longhouses that might have housed soldiers, to larger buildings that might have housed businesses or served as storage.

And that was just what he could see from down in the river, within the glow of his rosary…there was no telling exactly how _large_ this place was.

"_Holy crap…it's a CITY! A goddamn underground CITY!"_ he thought to himself, completely amazed by the discovery. _"What the hell…what's been going on down here? !"_

A strangled canine yelp cut off his train of thought, and suddenly remembering what he was looking for, whipped his head around frantically as he searched for Amaterasu.

He spotted her a good ways down the river, flailing about as she tried to keep herself above the water, but her splinted leg and obvious exhaustion from her efforts earlier were clearly making it difficult…a fact proven when she suddenly dipped below the surface.

"AMMY! Hold on!" he shouted, not even sure if she could hear him. Swimming with the current as fast as he could, he quickly covered the ground between him and her, spurring himself on as she reappeared gasping for air and whining in a very dog-like way for help.

Right before he reached her, her strength gave out and she dipped below the surface again.

"Aw, come ON!" he yelled in frustration, immediately going bottoms-up as he dived down into the freezing water after her. Feeling around with the scintillating glow of the Fox-Fire Beads guiding him, he searched frantically for her for as long as his breath held out.

When he could hold it no longer, he cursed himself and resurfaced for air, taking a huge gulp of it before diving back down again in search of his friend.

A few tense moments passed…a few moments that turned into a minute.

Suddenly…he breached the surface, holding the now-limp white wolf against him with his left arm. Searching around and quickly spotting what looked like some kind of "dock", a flat stone surface at the water's level with stairs leading down to it from the top of the wall, he immediately made for it by propelling himself with his right arm, hauling Amaterasu's limp form with him.

With an almost heroic effort, Alex grabbed onto the edge and hauled himself up with all that remained of his rapidly draining strength, the ice cold water sapping the energy from his limbs and numbing all his senses.

There, ice-cold and soaked to the bone, a violently shivering Alex laid Ammy out in front of him, suddenly noting her lack of movement.

"Ammy? Hey, snap out of it!" he said, shaking her and giving her a few good slaps across the muzzle for good measure.

Nothing. Her head lolled to the side, tongue hanging out.

"Oh Jesus Christ…" he whispered hoarsely, suddenly realizing what had happened to her from all the action flicks he had seen as a kid. _"Well it's a damn good thing I know CPR!" _he thought to himself, scowling with conviction and rubbing his gauntleted hands together, knowing he didn't have a moment to lose._ "Looks like that requirement for my garbage barge job in San Fran finally pays off today!"_

Bending down to start the process, he suddenly realized what he was doing and hesitated for a brief moment…

But all of the sudden…all that crap about him being human and she being a wolf didn't seem so important anymore.

"_Dammit! Her life's at stake here, you moron! Suck it up!"_ he berated himself.

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Alex prepared himself for what would possibly be the most thoroughly disgusting experience of his life thus far, and opened her jaw up gently, taking care to move her tongue out of the way.

"_Christ, Ammy…you better thank me for this if it works!" _he thought, wincing before closing his eyes, bending down, and…

A sudden yell of _"BLECK! WOLF SPIT!", _echoed through the massive cavern, disturbing the air and dust that had not been affected in almost centuries.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, I'm sorry...I just had to do it.<strong>

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)**


	31. Lurking Shadows, Hidden Feelings

**So I just got Terraria a few days ago...pretty fun game and OMG GIANT FREAKING EYEBALL KILL IT KIIIIIILLLL IIIIITTT!**

**Alex: "TheManWithBacon, meet the Eye of Cthulu."**

***Runs away, flailing arms wildly* HELP! HEEEEELLLLPPP!**

**Amunae: "Please enjoy this next chapter, if you would. Me and Alex have some...unpleasent business to attend to."**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30: Lurking Shadows, Hidden Feelings<strong>

"For the last time, Ammy, it was NOT a _KISS_!"

"_Well whatever it was, it was DISGUSTING!"_

"How do you think I feel? ! I've never had to do CPR on a _wolf_ before! Hell, you're lucky it even WORKED!"

So went the bickering between the young man and the wolf goddess, the former shivering violently from the ice cold water dripping off him as he ascended the nearby stairs to the top of the moat wall, the latter clenched tightly in his arms and still recovering from having nearly drowned.

"L-look…" he stammered, his teeth starting to chatter together as a breath of cold underground wind winding through the cavern hit him and made the already freezing water coating him ten times worse. "L-lets j-j-just f-forget about i-it…I'm so c-cold right now t-that I c-c-can barely th-think!"

Her offended feeling went away almost immediately when she felt his body begin to tremble, and she realized that Alex needed warmth _very _soon, before the chills set in and incapacitated him.

"_At least find someplace to start a fire before you freeze to death!"_ she demanded. _"You're father taught you how to make a campfire, correct?"_

Alex shakily nodded, not trusting himself to speak clearly.

"_Then let us start searching for some wood. This is obviously some sort of town or stronghold that we are in…hopefully, the materials we need will not be too difficult to find."_

"I d-don't know, Ammy…" he managed to speak shakily, as the faint wind died down. "T-this place looks p-pretty abandoned to me."

It was true…since their rather "obvious" arrival, no one had come out to help from the nearby rows of buildings that lined the sides of what she realized were footpaths made of _stone brick._ She could see the dark, foreboding silhouettes of the underground city that lay just beyond the blue glow of Alex's rosary…ancient sentinels that appeared to be watching their every move…

The encroaching shadows that danced around the tiny radius of light made her feel small indeed, given the massive size of the cavern they were in…clearly large enough to hold the small city, perhaps with room to spare, even.

"_And to think…the beginning to all of this was just below the Gale Shrine…"_ she thought to herself. _"I don't even think we're anywhere NEAR Kusa Village now, however. We have to be somewhere deeper in the mountains, underneath them all…that's the only way something this grand could remain hidden for so long."_

It was civilization, clearly…but this place's glory days were far behind it from what she could tell. Not a single torch was lit outside the buildings, nor did a single light shine in their windows.

It was dark, and empty…a true ghost town.

That was all she could ascertain, however. She held no knowledge about this place, and not even her tenuous connection with Shiranui, her previous incarnation, could give her any information.

"_But Alex's new friend, Amunae…he clearly _does_ know what this place is," _she thought to herself_. "I will have to ask him at some point where we are…because he clearly knows more than he is saying."_

She thought back to when Alex first told her about the fox spirit within Aku-Hametsu, and sighed slightly. After her experience with Ninetails, she was NOT looking forward to dealing with another kitsune, even if he was friendly.

Filing the thought away for now, she looked up at Alex from her place in his arms and said, _"Those buildings might be a good start…"_

He nodded, his body trembling again and making the metal plates of his thoroughly soaked armor rustle. The faint sound slowly echoed off into the darkness, soon followed by the sound of footsteps as he began making his way forward…deeper into the ancient stronghold, along the "streets" that wove in between the various structures.

As he walked, Ammy could _feel_ the tenseness in his body, the pent up anxiety born from having to wander through such a forsaken place. Everywhere they both looked, the tall buildings faintly lit up by the rosary's glow seemed to take on a life of their own and glower down at them…the two intruders in their virtually undisturbed domain.

Amaterasu, however, was studying the buildings as Alex carried her, and realized that most of them were actually still in decent condition. She had seen ancient ruins before, and in just about all of them, the buildings were in a sad, dilapidated, and utterly ruined state from hundreds or even thousands of years of passing time.

Not this one, however…this ruin, this _ghost town_, was still intact for the most part. Nearly all of the buildings were still standing as far as she could see…perhaps a bit dinged up and dirty in places, but still intact, no doubt from the fact that they were safe from the elements and preserved here in their underground tomb.

Whoever had built this place had clearly known what they were doing.

"_Amazing…"_ she thought to herself. _"This whole time, I never would have guessed that the abyss in the Gale Shrine led to such a mysterious place. If only our situation was different, I would have loved to take the time to explore this place…"_

Another cold gust of wind blew through the cavern, whistling ominously through the empty buildings and, more importantly, causing Alex to start shivering again.

"…_But that will have to wait,"_ she said, turning her attention back to Alex as the young man tightened his grip on her and pressed forward, gritting his teeth against the chill in his body.

Meanwhile, Alex was having thoughts of his own as he limped down the pathway.

"_Amunae…where are we?"_ Alex asked the fox spirit, hoping that it would distract him from the chill in his body.

"_Someplace safe."_

"_But WHERE, exactly?"_

"_Someplace hidden."_

"_Amunae, I swear to God…!"_

There was a sudden _crunch,_ followed by a loud clatter as Alex's boot suddenly collided with something fragile, breaking it apart and sending the pieces scattering across the stone brick path. Stumbling a bit and jumping back from the unexpected noise, he and Ammy looked down at where the sound had originated from.

"_What was that…?"_ he thought cautiously, holding his rosary out and bending down to see what he had accidentally kicked.

Blue light filtered over the darkened ground…revealing the leering, eyeless face of a human skull, flanked by ancient-looking pieces of a now-broken skeleton.

In the split second that the objects were revealed, Alex let out a high-pitched _"Whoa!"_ that boarded halfway between fright and sudden irritation at being rudely scared, at the same time that he jumped back again and strained something in his injured leg, causing him to stumble off-balance and into the wall of one of the nearby buildings.

His heart hammering in his chest, Alex held his chest and took several deep breaths to calm himself down, while Ammy squirmed out of his grasp and jumped to the ground, limping over to the skeleton pieces to sniff at them.

"…_What exactly were you saying about this place being SAFE?"_ he snapped at Amunae once he had gotten his wits about him.

"…_Forgive me Alex…I, er…forgot about that specific part,"_ the kitsune answered, Alex receiving the sensation of a sheepish, toothy grin from him.

"_Shit…just give me a heart attack, why don't you?"_ Alex retorted.

"_I assure you, young one, this place is entirely safe for the time being."_

"_Then how do you explain Mr. Skinny over there?"_

"_That is from…a tumultuous period in Nippon's history. Pay it no heed, for it is not like the dead will simply rise up to attack you."_

"_How are you sure about that? !"_

Alex suddenly received an image of the fox, resting on the grassy ground within his domain, but appearing to be in a sort of…'meditative' stance. His paws were tucked neatly together in front of him, his tails were mildly flared out behind him, and his head was bowed towards the ground.

But what caught Alex's attention once again was the fox's eyes…this time, glowing brightly, even against the permanent midday sun that always shone in that place.

The glow slowly faded away, and the fox lightly shook his head to apparently regain his bearings before raising his head back up and turning to 'look' at Alex.

"…_Amunae? What were you…?"_

"_As I said, young one…" _the fox's voice interrupted, _"…the dead will not harm you."_

Alex couldn't tell for sure, but he could swear that the fox sounded almost…saddened?

"_Well, this certainly does not bode well for us…"_ Ammy's voice said, pulling Alex out of his conversation. _"What do you think happened to this poor soul?"_

"I…don't know," he answered at length. "But Amunae says we shouldn't worry about it."

"_How can he be sure about that?"_

"You know, I asked him that _exact_ same question, and never really got an answer!"

"_Hmm…" _Ammy mused, but Alex could tell what she was thinking. She wasn't entirely trustful of the fox yet, which was something he could understand, given Amunae's behavior so far.

"_But he hasn't led us into harm's way yet…"_ Alex thought to himself. _"If he wanted to hurt me and Ammy, he could have done it already. He definitely hasn't been lacking in opportunities, THAT'S for sure."_

Shaking his head in temporary resignation, the brief image of the meditating fox lingering in his mental eye, he finished his thought with, _"…I guess I can afford to trust him a LITTLE…not much, but a little. I'll save the real judgments for when we get the hell out of here, IF we get out of here."_

"_That would be for the best, young one."_

"_What th-! Get out of my head, fox-face!"_

"_I shall do no such thing."_

"_Well at least WARN me before you go listening in on my thoughts, dammit!" _he cursed, before standing up and holding his arms together as he huddled in on himself for warmth.

"Ok, A-Ammy, I've h-had just about e-enough of t-this damn c-c-COLD!" he said out loud, his teeth chattering again. "L-lets try this building h-here!"

Seeing him nudge his head towards the building he had fallen against, a somewhat large two-story house from the looks of it, she nodded and hopped over on three legs as he tried the door.

"_Locked…dammit, even after whatever the hell happened here, these people couldn't have had the decency to leave their front door unlocked? !"_

Letting off an angry, if somewhat shaky growl, Alex leaned back and threw his armored shoulder into the door, the old wood letting off a stubborn rattle-and-bang as it resisted the young man's efforts. Unwilling to be deterred, Alex threw himself into the door again, and subsequently let off a pained groan as he clutched at his now-bruised shoulder.

"_Oh for goodness sakes, Alex! Cut that out before you dislocate your arm as well!" _Ammy berated him. _"Step aside and let me try!"_

"Be my guest…" he muttered. "Just don't try too hard or you might-"

The rest of his words were cut off as she suddenly darted forward and slammed her forehead into the door, a loud WHAM echoing through the cavernous city as the door came off its hinges and fell inward with a mighty crash.

"…On second thought, forget it," he finished, watching her with concern as she closed her eyes for a brief second, clearly dealing with the pain in her limb that had sprung up again from the maneuver.

"You want me to carry you again?" he asked, once she had opened her eyes again.

"_No, I…I can get inside on my own, thank you."_

Nodding to her, he watched her slowly hopped on three legs through the doorway before pushing himself off the wall and limping in after her, grateful to be out of the cavern's ice cold wind.

The first floor, consisting entirely of a single medium-sized room was…sparsely furnished, to say the least. Dust and debris from centuries of passing time made for a thick coating over what could only have once been a simple home for a small family. What furniture there once was now lay in sad, almost unrecognizable states of disrepair in their various positions against the walls, accompanied only by several large, hole-ridden sheets of cloth that Alex realized were once rugs. These were obviously meant to cover the smoothed-out stone floor, effectively the only thing in the house that hadn't deteriorated over its countless years in darkness and silence.

In fact, the only things he could see that appeared relatively unaffected, aside from the thick dust, was the wooden staircase along the wall to his left, leading up to the second story, the dusty glass mirror that rested atop of what he figured must have been some kind of small dresser to his right, and a stone fireplace against the very back wall.

"…Fireplace? Why would they have a fireplace inside an _enclosed_ cavern?" he thought out loud. "Wouldn't there be smoke buildup?"

"_Maybe there is some kind of natural chimney above us?"_ Ammy suggested.

"As this point, nothing would surprise me…" Alex muttered, suddenly finding the idea of a warm fire _very _attractive as the cold continued to seep through his wet armor. Going over to one of the various pieces of damaged and broken furniture, a small table from the looks of it, Alex reared back and let fly with a strong kick from his good leg, the armored limb making a loud SMASH as it broke through the practically ancient and brittle wood, making it fall into a pile of broken, splintered pieces.

"_What are you doing?" _Ammy asked him, as he began to gather up an armful of appropriately sized pieces.

"Starting a fire. I'm _freezing_!" he complained, carrying the load over and throwing it into the stone fireplace. After arranging the pile a bit to make it fit, while at the same time setting aside a small table leg and one of the more flat boards, he searched around for something that the fire could catch on, and settled for one of the moldy old cloth sheets that lay on the floor.

Wrapping it into a ball, careful to not accidently shred the ancient material in his hands, he set it on top of the wood pile before grabbing the round table leg and flat board, spinning the former between his hands and drilling the point of it into the latter in the classic fashion of starting a campfire.

Amaterasu watched with interest as he did all this, admiring his fervor despite the cold that was likely sapping the strength from his body. However, she became a bit confused when, after several minutes of Alex rubbing the two pieces of wood together, the young man had failed to start a decent fire…not even a little bit of smoke.

"_Um…any progress?"_ she decided to ask anyways.

"Oh gee, lemme think…uh…NO!" he snapped at her, the irritation clear in his voice as he pointed the stick at her for effect.

Retracting it and clenching it in his hand, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying more calmly, "No, it's not working."

"_Perhaps Aku-Hametsu can help, then? The sword seems to have some affinity for fire, from what I have seen."_

The look on his face was doubtful, but he eventually nodded. "…I guess it's worth a try," he answered, reaching up to put a hand on the sword's hilt. _"How about it Amunae? Think you can conjure up some toasty warm fire for us?"_

There was silence for a moment, before Alex heard, _"I am afraid not, young one."_

"Huh? Why not? !"

"…_Aku-Hametsu's flames only appear when the sword bathes in either the moon's light, or the blood of demons,"_ the fox responded._ "As you can plainly see, you have neither on hand, and even if you did, I highly doubt you could start a simple fire without accidentally blasting apart half of the house you now reside in."_

"Oh…ok. I _guess_ that makes sense…" he muttered, taking his hand off the sword and shrugging at Ammy.

"Well, what about _you_?" he suggested after a moment. "Is there any way you might be able to help out?"

"_If I had my inferno power, then yes. But I don't, as you can plainly see,"_ she responded with an idle twitch of her tail.

"Is there really nothing at all?" he asked, eyeing her. "You can't make just a little spark or something? That's seriously all I'll need to get this going."

She returned his gaze with a curious one of her own. It was true that the power was still there inside her, slowly gaining strength as time went by…perhaps it was not so difficult to think that she could manage something small at this point, even though her ink powers had not returned in full?

"_Well…alright. I suppose there is no harm in at least trying."_

Nodding to her, Alex stood up and aside, as she hopped up closer to the fireplace and eyed the sticks and cloth set in it. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate as Alex watched, noticing her tail lift up with the tip of it suspended over her. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she began to strain, trying to call forth the power that had eluded her thus far, hoping that what she managed to conjure up would be enough.

At that moment, Alex noticed that the dirt stains in her fur were moving…before he realized that they weren't dirt stains, but in fact very faint ink splotches. They looked almost like black paint that had been mixed with too much water, creating a sort of "stain" effect on the "canvas" of her dirty white fur.

Her power was still there…just barely beneath the surface.

Out of the very tip of her tail, he just barely caught sight of a tiny black drop of ink, the size of a tear and hanging on unsteadily as she sucked in a breath of air and began to draw. As she swept the tail around in a very tiny arc, Alex saw the distinct looping appearance of a very tiny infinity symbol appear over the pile of cloth and sticks.

Letting the air in her lungs out with a heavy gasp, Amaterasu released the power, and a sudden _fissht_ split the air as a small spark of fire erupted within the fireplace, catching on the old cloth and spreading quickly.

Springing into action, Alex immediately began to adjust the pile, placing some of the sticks on top of the cloth and blowing gently on the tiny flame to strengthen it. In several minutes, Amaterasu's spark had turned into a crackling blaze as it caught on some of the wood, and Alex let off a relived sigh as he sat down and held his hands out towards the growing heat, rubbing them together for additional warmth.

"Ok, I think it's good now…thanks, Ammy," he said, giving her an appreciative smile.

(_Chrono Cross OST – Star-Stealing Girl_)

Still breathing heavily from the exertion, the white wolf nodded and slowly padded up to him and the fire, surprising him when she sudden slipped under his arms and flopped herself down in his lap.

"W-whoa, Ammy, what're you…!"

"_I'm sharing body heat,"_ she remarked simply. _"We may have a fire now, but it's important that we…or rather, you…warm up as quickly as possible. The last thing we need is for you to catch a cold, or worse, the Chills."_

"Y-you mean…hypothermia?" he assumed, still appearing unsure about the sudden close contact they were having.

"_If that is what the people from your world call it, then yes."_

"_I've said it before, and I'll say it again…fate is conspiring against me on this,"_ he thought uncomfortably to himself, as Amaterasu stretched out into a more comfortable position on his lap and exposed her belly to the fire.

Sucking some air in through his nose in resignation, Alex untied the soaking wet Spidersilk Cloak from around his neck and set it near the fire to dry, before reaching over and grabbing one of the longer table legs nearby, using it to stoke the fire a bit from where he sat.

And they sat there in silence, waiting for armor and fur to both dry as the chill in the room slowly gave way to a comfortably warm glow.

Feeling a bit more relaxed as some of the stress in his body began to finally unwind, Alex leaned back as far as he could with Ammy on his lap and propped himself up with his arms, leaning his head back and rolling it around to pop some of the sore vertebrae that were bothering him. Sneaking a glance back down at Ammy, her white fur colored a soft orange in the light of the fire, his gaze met hers and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Comfortable enough, _princess_?" he asked sarcastically.

"_Yes, very comfortable, my esteemed underling…"_ she answered back with equal sarcasm of her own.

An amused snort escaped him, the corner of his mouth curling upward in a smirk as he looked back up to the fire.

"_What about you?"_ she asked, sounding more a little more serious now, though her tone still held a bit of pleasantry to it.

"Ah…" he started, idly stoking the fire again. "I'm well enough, I guess. At least, well enough for the fact that we're fending for our lives right now."

She smiled her lupine smile again, and lay her head back down on his knee.

"_You know, Alex…I've been thinking about the story you told me about your father, and…well…I just realized that I haven't thanked you for saving me from drowning just now."_

"Ammy, you don't have to-"

Without waiting for him to finish, she stood up and gave him a big wet lick across the cheek again, making him smack a hand across the affected area as though he had been stung or slapped.

"Aw geez, Ammy!" he groaned, wiping his face off. "Did you HAVE to do that? I've already had enough of your spit from doing mouth-to-mouth!"

She telepathically laughed at him, lying back down in his lap and adding in a simple, _"Thank you."_

"Sheesh…you're welcome," he added grudgingly.

Another silence opened up between them, Amaterasu closing her eyes and resting while Alex checked his cloak to see if it was dry yet.

"Hey, Ammy…" he spoke up after several minutes. "Can I ask you something?"

"_Of course,"_ she answered, keeping her eyes closed for the time being.

"…What's it like, being a Brush God and all that?"

Her eyes opened in minor surprise at the question, though she kept her head still and pointing straight at the fire in front of them.

Her silence on the matter made Alex worry if he had overstepped his bounds by asking such a question, but it dissolved moments later when she began to speak.

"_It's…complicated."_

"Yeah?" he responded. "Can't be any more complicated than everything else I've seen around here in the Land of Talking Animals."

She chuckled at his little joke about Nippon, but her look soon became serious again.

"_I suppose it isn't TOO complicated…generally, as the overseers of Nippon, we have only one real ongoing responsibility: to watch over the land, and make sure that everything is in balance."_

"Well, I figured that much…but what I meant was, what's it _really _like? Is it happy-go-lucky all the way, or do you guys see it as something really serious that demands a practical approach?"

"…_A bit of both, I would imagine," _she answered. _"We do have our moments of leisure, though we also handle our respective tasks with duty and responsibility."_

She fell silent all of the sudden, and Alex looked down at her with slight confusion.

"…_but…it is a lonely existence, sometimes."_

"Huh?" he said, becoming even more confused. "But what about the other Brush Gods? You're all friends up there, right?"

"_More like acquaintances, actually. I know them all well, and I get along with them most of the time, but…I doubt that I could call any of them a true friend. Regular friends, maybe…but that would be the extent of it."_

"Really? Why?"

"_Because…well…I honestly don't know."_

She paused for a moment to heave a sigh.

"_If I had to guess, I suppose it could be that…perhaps I simply prefer the company of mortals."_

"Like Oki, Issun, and all of your other friends?"

She nodded. _"Looking back, I suppose that I simply didn't notice it with Waka, one of my best and most loyal friends, constantly at my side on the Celestial Plain. He filled in the gap that my entirely necessary stay on the Plain had opened up, what with the lack of all my other friends that I made during my first adventure through Nippon. With him there…I was content for the time being, I suppose."_

"But then you had to come back down here, because of _me_," Alex remarked.

"_Yes…and you have no idea how excited I was. To see Oki, Issun, Susano, Mr. Orange…it was, for me, the opportunity of a lifetime."_

She fell silent again, appearing to ponder something for a moment, before turning to look up at him and smile warmly.

"_Still, I had no idea that, along the way, I would meet someone quite like you, Alex."_

"Heh…" he chuckled a little nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I probably stick out like a sore thumb here, with my "modern mindset" and all that crap."

"_A sore thumb or not, I'm just happy that I met you."_

At her words, Alex suddenly felt a very peculiar sensation, like his chest muscles all seizing up at once as the blood drained from his face.

"_N-no…" _he thought to himself. _"She couldn't be saying it like THAT, could she…? Wait, no! Of course not! Get ahold of yourself, Grey, you're just a friend to her!"_

Unaware of his internal conflict, Amaterasu lay back down again and closed her eyes as she continued speaking.

"_Alex…I have no idea why fate decided to bring you here, to Nippon, but regardless of whether you belong or not…I'm glad you're here."_

"_Ammy, I swear to God, PLEASE shut up before I lose it!"_ he thought agonizingly to himself.

"_For some reason, I…well…I suppose I just feel safer with you around. That's probably because of how much you've been helping me so far, but…still, I mean it."_

"_Ok, THAT'S IT!"_

Alex suddenly stood up, pushing Ammy off of his lap, and made briskly for the door behind them.

"…_Alex! W-where are you going?" _she asked him, surprised by his sudden burst of activity.

"I'm…going to scout out the place!" he made up on the spot, quickly limping through the doorway and into the darkness enshrouding the underground city.

Once outside, he made for the building across the way and put his hands against the old wood, leaning against it like he was trying to topple it over as he took one deep breath after another.

"_God dammit, Ammy…"_ he whispered under his breath, rubbing a gauntleted hand across his face as a vicious turmoil of thoughts roiled around in his head. _"You just HAD to make this hard on me…why can't you see what Oki's offering? He'd be a hell of lot better choice than ME, and besides that...!"_

His hand curled into a fist, and he pounded it against the wall with a strained grunt to get his frustration out.

"_Calm down, Alex…you might just be overreacting. She's likely just being friendly and…"_

"_By lying down in your lap, saying she was glad to meet YOU of all people, and saying that she has a feeling of safety and security around you? !" _his brain suddenly barked at him. _"Oh yeah, that's TOTALLY within the friend-zone!"_

"_But she can't really be…! I mean, she HAS to have noticed Oki's advances, right? They already know each other, right? ! Come ON!"_

"_YOU come on!" _his brain yelled at him. _"You know for damn sure what this is implying! A human and a wolf, ESPECIALLY a wolf that's practically in a relationship already with ANOTHER wolf that's been searching for her for a whole YEAR, almost? ! That's just not right!"_

"_You think I don't know that? !" _he mentally shouted…before suddenly realizing that he was only arguing with himself, making the dispute completely pointless overall.

Clenching his fist, Alex was forced to resist the extreme urge to punch the wall in front of him as the turmoil in his mind began to calm down.

It was then that he became aware of the ancient presence, observing from the safety of the back of his mind.

"…_Amunae?"_

"_Were you expecting someone else?"_ the fox spoke up.

"_Um…how much of that did you…?"_

He let the question hang in the air, growing slightly embarrassed when the fox didn't immediately respond.

Finally, Amunae said, _"If you do wish to search around this place, young one, I suggest you get started while your strength holds out."_

"_Uh…right,"_ Alex said, unsure of whether Amunae was toying with him or avoiding the subject, but still grateful that he wouldn't have to discuss it.

* * *

><p>(<em>Fairy Tail OST - Past Story<em>)

"_Was it something I said?"_

The thought came to mind as she lay on the cold stone where Alex had once been sitting, wondering why the young man had suddenly stormed off like that.

"_This is entirely unlike Alex…he's never acted this way before. But _why_? Why is that?"_

She adjusted her position, trying to get comfortable again as she rested her head on her paws.

"_He seems so anxious about something, and no matter what I try to do to cheer him up…it seems like I only make it worse."_

It was certainly a new thought for her…she of all people could notice the effect she often had on people, brightening their spirits and sometime even giving them a new outlook on life in general. Of course, such changes usually only came with well-placed "miracles"…but Alex was hardly the sort who seemed to believe in such things.

Something in him seemed to be…'rejecting' her attempts to cheer him up and make him feel worthwhile. Something that was beginning to eat at him, something that was beginning to darken the light of his spirit and made him withdrawn and taciturn around her.

But that barely made any sense either. She had _seen_ the friendliness he was capable of, had _seen_ him being social with her and others…even the occasional smile as well.

But more and more, she noticed that whenever he was with her…he sometimes changed into someone almost completely different. Where there would be jokes and laughs from the friendly young man one second, there would only be silence and avoided looks seconds the next.

"_Why?" _she wondered, shaking her head in confusion._ "Oh, if only I had my powers back! I could help him so much…I've yet to see someone that hasn't been cheered up by a well-placed Bloom."_

Regardless, she was forced to accept the hand that fate had dealt them. Her only hope, besides escaping this cave at some point, was that Alex would lighten up at some point. She wanted back the Alex she had come to know since their escapades in the Tsuta Ruins, the (relatively) calm yet sometimes distraught young man that always seemed to make her laugh.

Looking at the ground in front of her, she noticed the black fabric of his cloak, set out to dry in front of the fire.

"_Oh dear…he must have forgotten it,"_ she realized, standing up and quietly padding over to it.

She gave it a few sniffs, smelling his scent upon it, remembering the time she had first picked it up in the Tsuta Ruins while tracking him.

"_That seemed so long ago, even though it was only several weeks at the most…"_ she thought to herself…

…before she closed her eyes, inhaled slowly and deeply...and suddenly stopped when she realized what she was doing.

"_I…but…why did I…?"_ she stammered to herself, shaking her head and backing a few steps away from the article of clothing, at a complete loss for words over the unexpected action.

"_I've…that's…w-what on Nippon possessed me to do that…?"_ she thought shakily, once she had her wits back.

She stared accusingly at the wrapped up cloak, just lying there innocently, and she heaved a sigh.

"…_It was…probably nothing,"_ she told herself, lying back down in front of the fire. _"Perhaps…perhaps I just find his scent a bit pleasing. Y-yes, of course! Pleasing! There are lots of scents I find pleasing! What is wrong with one more?"_

Something in the back of her mind spoke of denial, but she quickly quashed the notion. Her, in denial? Unthinkable. She was a _goddess!_ There was no way she could afford to be unsure of her actions!

But even so, the odd, lingering doubt remained. Virtually unnoticeable, but still there.

Suddenly, she found herself wishing for the company of Issun. The poncle was irritating beyond belief sometimes, but as both her celestial envoy and perhaps even her best friend, he understood her better than anyone else in Nippon. At the very least, she knew that she could talk to him while ensuring his secrecy at the same time…tell him what bothered her and watch as he either complained about it or offered a solution that seemed entirely unfeasible.

If he were here right now, he might be able to shed some light on why this was happening…or at least improve her mood.

Thoughts of Issun eventually led to those of Oki, and she smiled as she thought back to when she had first met the Oina Warrior. So proud and headstrong…but both times she had come to Nippon, he had always been there to help her out of a jam. A brave warrior and a loyal companion, two traits that described the wolf-man perfectly.

As long as she was wishing for Issun's worldly wisdom, she might as well wish for Oki's strong and indomitable nature as well.

But wishing was something best left for mortals, she knew. At this moment in time, she was here, with Alex, inside an underground city that only the fox spirit overshadowing the young man seemed to know about.

With that thought in mind…she found herself wishing for the young man's presence most of all. At the very least, something about him made her feel safe.

She had not been lying when she had told him that.

* * *

><p>There was a quiet <em>clink-clink-clink<em> as he lightly tapped his gauntlet-encased fingers against the metal shaft of his weapon, the business end of it currently against the ground and out of harm's way…although the weapon could quickly be brought to bear, and used to devastating effect if the need arose.

Such a time was not now, he knew, as he stood over his vantage point, surveying the many buildings that stretched out before him in the dark, almost pitch black cavern.

There was a time when light once filled this place, he had heard…but such a time had long passed. Now, only darkness remained.

He did not fear the darkness…far from it. He _preferred_ it.

"Commander Kurenai?" an official sounding, yet quiet voice hissed softly from behind him.

The heavily armored shadow turned his head slightly to regard the equally dark-armored man behind him.

"Speak," came his own voice, gravelly and confident, echoing from within the helmet that fully encased his head.

"Sir, the men are ready to move. What are your orders?"

The armored figure of authority turned back to the view of the city, the heavy plates shifting quietly.

"…Observe them, for now. Let's see what information we can still gather. If they prove useless in that regard…then proceed with Lord Nobunaga's orders."

"Sir?"

He turned back to face the man.

"What if they try to leave the city?"

An amused laugh escaped the commander, as he dexterously flipped the long-shafted weapon around in one hand, bringing the business end up and revealing it to be a monstrously large-bladed scythe, the flat of the blade inscribed with blood-red runes of unknown meaning and the razor sharp edge consisting of a black stony material, similar to the sword across the back of his subordinate.

"The answer should be obvious…" he began, bringing the butt of the scythe's shaft down and hitting the stone beneath it with a resounding _gong._

"If they try to leave, kill the wolf…but leave the boy to _me._"

* * *

><p><strong>*Pants heavily* Holy...freakin'...GOD.<strong>

**Alex: "You good now?"**

**Yeah...yeah, I think s- OMG GIANT MAN-EATING WORM HELLLLP HEEEEELLLL- *Gibbed***

**Amunae: *Facepaw***

**Rate, review, and I'll see you next time. And don't worry, if any of you are getting bored of this completely dragged-out plot arc/act (sorry about that), there'll only be a couple more chapters to go!**


	32. The Takeda Clan, part 1

**Wonder why I'm uploading a couple days early? I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count.**

**Yes! It's the one-year anniversary for Steel in the Moonlight! Honestly, it seems like time has gone by so fast since I first started this up on that fateful summer day. But I'm just happy that I could upload this on the anniversary day itself. ****So...happy birthday, SITM! Make a wish and blow out the candles!**

**Also, this is gonna be anothe two-parter chapter, for the reason of sheer length. Fortunately, that probably means an early upload for you guys, because I'll be doing my best to get the next part in by this time next week!**

**Alex: "Yeah, if procrastination doesn't bite you in the butt again."**

**PROCRASTINATION. MY ONE WEAKNESS. *Throws fists into air***

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31: The Takeda Clan, part 1<strong>

"_Ok, Alex…forget about Ammy for a second and focus on what's in front of you. You're in a life-and-death situation, trapped in an underground ghost town that once belonged to God-knows-who. You've got food in Ammy's pouch and water from the river, so starving and dehydration won't be an issue. You won't freeze to death because of that fire, and you've got plenty of stuff to make more firewood out of if you need it. Overall, the situation seems pretty stable…for the moment at least."_

Leaning up against the wall of a nearby building for support, Alex took a quick breather as he rested his strained leg.

"_So why the hell does it still feel like I'm in danger?"_

"_Intuition,"_ Amunae remarked calmly. _"Survival instinct."_

"_Hah!"_ Alex scoffed._ "If I had 'intuition', we probably wouldn't even BE in this mess! Remember that Crimson Helm fiasco? I sure as hell showed my 'intuition' there!"_

"_None of that was your fault. Amaterasu confirmed that herself."_

"_Yeah, whatever…my point is, I'm either being paranoid, or something's up that I'm not aware of."_

"_Better paranoid and alive than overconfident and dead, young one. Remember that."_

"_Another one of your 'lessons', I'm guessing?"_

"_Of sorts."_

Shrugging and standing up straight again, Alex resumed his slow pace down the stone brick road laid out before him, leading deeper into the underground ghost town as the wind whistled ominously through the narrow passages between all the buildings.

"_So what exactly IS this place, Amunae? And no more beating around the bush; I want an actual answer this time!"_

Silence. As expected. But Alex wasn't about to let it go that easily this time.

"_Hey, you hear me fox-face? ! I said-!"_

"_Idaina-yosai."_

"…_Wait, what?"_

"_Idaina-yosai…that is what this place is called. It means, 'Great Fortress.'"_

"_Great Fortress…?"_ Alex repeated, as he looked up and about at the buildings around him, suddenly finding a new meaning in the presence of the longhouses for soldiers and the apparent secrecy of the place overall. _"This was a fortress?"_

"_Yes, and a near-impenetrable one as well. No one except its owners knew of its location during its prime…until the end, of course."_

Alex thought back to the lone skeleton he discovered earlier, before saying, _"And let me guess…this place once belonged to the Takeda, right?"_

He suddenly received an image of the fox turning to stare at him curiously, the eyebrow of his masked face raised.

"_Well, come on!"_ Alex reasoned, turning as he cut through a nearby alleyway and made sure to remember the path he was taking. _"With the way you've been going on, you obviously know a lot about this place, just like you do with the Takeda…which means it had to at least have had SOME kind of connection with them, right? I mean, how else would you know so much about it?"_

There was a few more seconds of staring, before the fox's face broke into a toothy and surprisingly _pleased_ smile.

"_Your mind is becoming sharper, young one. You are correct in your assumption."_

"_Yeah, well…call it an educated guess."_

"_Hardly. You took the knowledge presented to you and forged an answer out of it for yourself. That is an important skill to possess, for strength of mind is equally important as strength of arms."_

"_Good to know," _Alex replied with a hint of sarcasm. _"Now what were they doing down here is the REAL question. Care to fill me in?"_

"_That is something you will have to figure out for yourself."_

"_And WHY, may I ask?"_

"_You will see soon enough…but perhaps I can at least provide you with a nudge in the right direction."_

Alex suddenly felt his attention being directed towards the silhouette of one of the larger buildings in the distance, beyond the range of his rosary's light but still close enough that he at least knew what he was looking at. From where he was standing, he could make out its general pagoda-like shape as it towered high above the other buildings surrounding it…none of which, he realized, were positioned even _close _to it.

It seemed to be…set apart from the main section of the underground city stronghold, against what he realized was the far back wall of the giant cavern. Alex didn't have a clue why, but he certainly had his suspicions as he began walking towards it.

"_What's so special about that building there?"_ he found himself asking as he walked, unsure of whether the fox would answer him or not.

"_As I said, you must see for yourself…"_ the fox answered mysteriously. _"All I can tell you for now is that there is a very good reason why this place is hidden underground, away from prying eyes both curious and vengeful."_

"_Vengeful…? Does this have something to do with the demons and this 'Black Hand' I heard about in that memory you showed me?"_

"_The enemies of the Takeda Clan are only a part of the secrets that lie within this place."_

"_Damn…then what else was going on down here? !" _Alex thought to himself, shaking his head as the questions continued to roil around in his mind. Amunae was being secretive, as usual, but that didn't bother him nearly as much as the sensation of simply _not knowing_ what was going on! Now that he was on the trail of what happened to this place, he found himself wanting answers more than anything, and his pace quickened as the silhouette of the building drew closer.

Unbeknownst to the young man, a shadow detached itself from the surrounding darkness left in the wake of his rosary, quickly passing from one hiding spot to the next as it followed him on silent footsteps…

Cutting through another alleyway, making sure to remember the path behind him, Alex came out into a clearing…and beheld the sight of charred, blackened husks of burned buildings. Unlike the majority of the stronghold, these had clearly not survived whatever had happened to this place…they were, to a one, burned down and destroyed, and whatever had been inside them had likely been consumed as well.

What really caught his attention, however, was a different matter entirely: a solid wall, several feet taller than him and seemingly crafted out of the same stone brick that the footpaths were. At a glance, it was very solid looking…perhaps to keep something out? Or in? He couldn't tell. At the moment, he was more interested in the massive iron gate that was attached to said wall, crafted in the typical arch design that most Japanese gates were.

The mere fact that it was solid iron instead of wood suggested that this place required heavy defense…apparently, a defense that had failed, for the gate had been twisted and bent beyond usefulness, hanging open on loose, nearly broken hinges. It was as clear an indicator as any that something had attacked this place…blasted the gate open and stormed the large building ahead, where his destination lay.

"_Huh…what was so important about this building that they needed a wall this big?"_

Gently pushing the twisted metal gate open enough for him to slip through, its forlorn creak echoing into the darkness, Alex passed through the opening and into a narrow passage flanked on both sides by the large wall.

It didn't take him long before he noticed the few skeletons strewn across the ground, probably still in the position they had been in when the life had left their bodies.

But these skeletons were different…unlike the bare one that he had found with Ammy, these had what almost looked to be the ancient remains of actual _armor._ Not only that, but several of them still clutched what he realized were broken, rusted, pitted remains of various weapons in their bony grips. Alex could spot swords, spears, and even what looked like a broken bow as well, with the arrow still held close to a nocked position by the skeleton's other hand.

"_They…they must have been defending this building, whatever it is…" _he thought solemnly. _"They must have held this passage as long as they could against whoever – or whatever – was attacking."_

Noting with some concern that there were no similar skeletons facing the same direction he was, he had his suspicions that it might have been the demons that had attacked this place; he remembered that the monsters' bodies often disappeared in a cloud of black smoke after dying…or burst into flowers, in Ammy's case.

He heard an uneasy hiss from Amunae, the fox clearly on edge about the sight before them.

"_This place reeks of death…"_ he muttered. _"Idaina-yosai…forever tainted."_

"Hmm…" Alex mused out loud, ignoring the uneasy feeling the fox was stirring up inside him as he looked down the passage ahead. He could see the exit a ways ahead, and careful not to step on or trip over any more skeletons, Alex slowly made his way towards the obviously important building that lay just ahead.

But before he could leave the narrow chokepoint, he suddenly stopped when he heard…_something._

There was no one else here with him except Amunae, he was sure of that. But he could swear that he heard…whispering?

Now that he had noticed them, the voice began to grow more insistent, their raspy, breathy voices increasing in volume and quantity. For a frightening second, Alex thought that Orochi's Specter had returned to come after him again…but that couldn't be right…the specter had been summoned by Crimson Helm, and the demon's spirit was locked away in Aku-Hametsu now!

"_Alexander, what is the matter?"_ he heard Amunae say, his deep voice starting to become drowned out by the incessant, _insistent_ whisperings. _"You've stopped…is something wrong?"_

The volume was becoming unbearable, and Alex pressed his hands on either side of his helmeted head as if to somehow stop the noise that was beginning to split his head open. He squeezed his eyes shut as a pained groan escaped him, before he fell down on a knee as the pressure from the voices increased.

"_Alex? What's wrong? ! ALEX!" _he heard Amunae shout, before his voice disappeared completely.

Suddenly, the voices stopped.

And then he heard shouting. Battle cries. Agonized screams of pain. The sound of metal biting into armor and flesh.

"Hurry! TO THE KEEP! FALL BACK TO THE KEEP!"

"Move! GO!"

"_There's too many of them!"_

Smoke…he smelled smoke…heard the roar of flames from burning buildings.

Alex opened his eyes and saw the stone path in front of him, illuminated in a sinister orange glow. Looking behind him, he could see fire tearing through the buildings back where he had come…and people who were very clearly soldiers, wearing their blue-dyed bamboo armor as they rushed about. Many of them were pouring into the narrow passageway that Alex was now in, some of them hefting the limp bodies of their wounded comrades as they made for the exit on the opposite end of the chokepoint.

"They're coming! Seal the gate! Quickly!" one of the incoming soldiers shouted to the ones directing the flow of traffic at the gate.

"But…t-there are still men out there!" another soldier said, emerging from the haze of flames behind the first, his young-looking face smeared with soot and his drawn sword with spatters of black blood. "We can't just…!"

He slowly trailed off, as he noticed the look on the gate guard's face.

"Y-you're not thinking of-!"

"It's them or US!" the guard finally interrupted, turning to face the soldier fully. "Right now, we don't have a choice! If they're still out there, they're dead men anyways!"

"You would sentence them to _DEATH? !"_ the younger soldier suddenly screamed, stepping forward and grabbing the guard by the top of his chest plate. "For the Brush Gods' sakes, _my brother is still out there!"_

Alex slowly stood up, moving back to face the group of soldiers that otherwise took no notice of him, a look of utter confusion on his face as he stared past them at the chaos ravaging the city he had just passed through moments ago.

"Stop it! We don't have time for this!" the first soldier yelled, stepping in and restraining the younger one. "He's right! It's _them or us!"_

"I will NOT leave my brother to those _monsters_!" the younger soldier growled furiously, shaking the other one off. "I'm going back in after him! If any of you call yourself _true_ warriors of the Takeda, you will help me!"

"Don't be a damn fool! You'll get yourself killed!"

"Show some sense, you idiot!" came the responses of the others.

"Hmph! FINE!" the younger soldier yelled. "To the Land of Darkness with all of you, _cowards_!"

Bringing his weapon to bear, the young soldier drew his weapon and charged towards the raging fires…and was promptly rebuffed when a sudden dark shadow, wreathed in the red and orange flames, rose up before him.

The lines were undefined in the haze of the fire's heat, but it was large enough that the man slowed to a stop, a profound look of sudden fear on his face.

The shadowy figure seemed to regard him for a moment, and slowly began to step forward, making the younger soldier step back as the flames began to part, revealing…

"_AMUNAE?"_ Alex mentally exclaimed. _"What the hell? !"_

It was the first look he had gotten at the kitsune-hybrid form that he himself had taken several times before, courtesy of the kitsune's spirit, and Alex could only stare dumfounded as the pristine and powerful looking creature stepped into view of all the soldiers, the looks on their faces matching those upon Alex's face right at that moment.

The tattered grey cloth wrapped around it's waist and reaching down to its knees, the silvery metal pauldrons strapped to its broad shoulders, the jagged scar from the sword wound Songi had given him, the sheath of Aku-Hametsu tight against its back, and the ancient sword itself clutched tightly in its clawed handpaw…it all fit. This WAS Amunae…this WAS the Sword-Wielder!

"_That proves it, from the vision I first saw that 'Raikoh' person in…" _Alex realized. _"I'm not the only one who's used Aku-Hametsu's powers…"_

"Brush Gods above…never have I seen something so majestic…" one of the gate guards breathed.

"I've only caught glimpses before…never been this close…" another one said.

The younger soldier suddenly appeared unsure of his course of action, the weapon lowering back down to his side as he gulped and reflexively did a quick bow.

"L-Lord Raikoh…" he began shakily. "W-what is your command?"

The kitsune-hybrid, standing at least a full head taller than the soldier, looked down at him with his piercing azure eyes, and the poor man gulped nervously.

Turning slightly, the kitsune-hybrid reached back towards the many tails streaming out behind him, and grabbed something heavy looking that one of them was wrapped around. Lifting it easily with one arm, the kitsune-hybrid turned back to face the younger soldier and quickly thrust the heavy object into his arms.

One look from everyone in attendance, Alex included, told them that it was another soldier garbed in the same blue armor as the rest of them, but sporting some nasty looking scorch marks across his body.

"Your brother, if I am not mistaken, Haru…" Amunae said in his characteristically deep voice. "He needs attention from the healers. See that he gets it!"

The younger soldier, clearly recognizing the face of his sibling, looked back up at the kitsune-hybrid with wordless thanks in his eyes, before Amunae briskly strode past him on quiet pawsteps.

"The rest of you, to the keep's defenses! Bar the gate and make sure none of these monsters set foot within the sacred chamber!"

The other soldiers snapped out of their funk and hurriedly nodded, letting Amunae and the younger soldier slip through before they grabbed onto both sides of the gate and began to pull it closed with all their might. Alex, in the meantime, stepped aside as the large fox-man strode by, the nine long tails twitching idly as he lightly stepped down the passage towards the opening on the other side.

"_Sweet Jesus…"_ he thought, watching in awe the entire time. _"I turn into THAT? That's just…I don't even know WHAT to think about that!"_

There was as loud _SLAM_ as the gate slid shut, followed by a _THUD_ as the heavy bar was set into place. With the gate now closed, the soldiers guarding it moved into defensive positions along the sides of the passage, drawing bows and swords alike as they prepared themselves for the worst. Outside, the sounds of battle could still be heard, along with the roar of the spreading flames that consumed this section of the underground city.

Deciding to stay where the action was, Alex quickly made to follow Raikoh-turned-Amunae, catching up with him just as he exited the passage into an incredibly wide and spacious courtyard, layered with more of the stone brick and lit up by a combination of the spreading fires and a dozen or so lit torches. There was no fountain or anything of the sort in the center, however, leading Alex to believe that the courtyard had perhaps been built to provide plenty of room, rather than a comforting sight.

He also saw the massive, pagoda-shaped building at the other end of said courtyard, the tall and massive building making for an imposing presence. It was undoubtedly the shogun, the primary building of Idaina-yosai, the Great Fortress of the Takeda Clan…and apparently, the fallback point for all of the stronghold's defenders. Alex could see more of the blue-garbed soldiers racing about, grabbing weapons and getting into position for what was undoubtedly going to be a massive siege. Among them, Alex could see people in regular Nippon clothing, undoubtedly civilians that had fled here as well.

Many of both groups, however, looked to be in no condition to move; these soldiers were wounded and being tended to by a veritable flock of healers…some of which, Alex realized, were wearing kitsune masks.

The Mori Tribe had a presence here as well…a fact only proven when the massive wooden double-door of the shogun opened wide and two kitsune in their fox forms strode out, flanking another Takeda soldier that looked to be somewhere in his fifties or sixties, alongside a procession of scarred and battle-hardened veteran soldiers.

Spotting the group, the kitsune-hybrid Amunae quickly moved to intercept them, giving the older soldier a quick and respectful nod as he approached.

"How does it look, Amunae?" the old soldier grunted in a gruff, experienced voice, clearly not as put-off by the kitsune-hybrid's imposing presence.

"Not good, I am afraid," Amunae replied. "The demons are advancing more quickly than Raikoh and I can move to stop them. They have already taken most of the military district and are heading this way."

Lowering his voice, so as not to be heard by the soldiers most likely, he added, "…They will be here soon. _Very _soon."

A grim sort of scowl came over the old soldier's face, as he looked down towards the ground. His procession of guards shifted uneasily at this look, and Alex suddenly found himself realizing that the worst was yet to come.

"…I see…" he answered quietly. "Can the defenses hold?"

The fox man slowly shook his head, an equally downcast look coming over his masked face.

"No. Not against a force this large. Raikoh, myself, and your men have fought them bravely…but I fear that we have unleashed a tide that we cannot stop now."

The grim scowl turned into a furious glare, though it seemed not to be directed at anyone in particular, as the older soldier paced off to the said with extreme anxiety in his movements.

"Damn!" he finally said, rubbing a hand over his grey head of hair. "We weren't counting on them finding this place! Idaina-yosai is the Takeda's true place of power in Nippon, and if we lose it to those _demons…!"_

"We have no other choice!" Amunae interrupted with an insistent growl, his ivory teeth flashing dangerously in the torchlight. "Idaina-yosai has fallen! All we can do now is gather the lost and flee this place!"

"If we lose this place, we lose one of our only advantages in this war!" the older man countered angrily.

Amunae sighed, looking down at the ground as he slowly calmed.

"…Sometimes…" he began, "…there are losses that you will have to accept, for better or for worse."

Looking back up, he stared the older man straight in the eye.

"I taught that to you once…father of Raikoh."

Alex's eyes widened a bit at this news, and he quickly turned to see the older man's reaction.

The older man stared hard into the otherwise knowing gaze of the fox man's azure orbs, and his own look almost immediately began to soften as he broke eye contact.

"You're…you're right…forgive me, Amunae. I let my emotions get the better of me. I should be listening to my instinct instead, as you taught me from the very beginning."

The fox man smiled warmly…a gesture that was out of place due to the sounds of battle and the roar of flames around them.

"There is nothing to forgive, old friend," he said in a low voice.

The older man nodded in recognition of this fact, but his look remained grim.

"Amunae…I need to speak with Raikoh about something. Privately, please."

The fox man gave him an odd look, but Alex could see nothing but trust in the fox's eyes. Nodding and sheathing Aku-Hametsu, the fox curled one hand-paw into a fist, planted it firmly into the open palm of his other hand-paw, quickly flexed his upper body in one swift motion, and a sudden _poof_ of smoke filled the air, making several nearby soldiers cough and stare in surprise.

Where there was once Amunae, there was now the man that Alex realized was from his self-induced visions. Raikoh, now appearing at least twice as old as he had the last couple of times Alex had seen him, held a certain air about him that hadn't been there before. Where there was once uncertainty in the first vision, followed by slight cockiness in the second, there was now a sense of experience and leadership about him…something that could make a person pick up a sword and follow him into battle if he simply _asked._

Alex didn't know why…but he immediately came to respect the man.

"Yes, father? What is it?" Raikoh asked, crossing his arms as best he could with the far more elaborately crafted, blue-dyed steel armor that protected his body, covered with a long cloth tabard that bore the symbol of a radiant white crescent moon over a background of a much darker shade of blue.

Smiling at the familiar sight of his son, Raikoh's father strode up to him and put a gauntleted hand on his armored shoulder.

"Raikoh, I have a very important task for you," he said. "I know you lead the clan now, but…consider it a favor that I am asking of you, from father to son."

Raikoh nodded. "Of course, father, anything. What do you need done?"

The older man cast his gaze over the scene around them, healers ferrying wounded about and tending to as many as they could, while the soldiers still standing hurried to their defensive positions or assisted the healers as best they could. The civilians were doing their best to stay out of the way, the only sound they were making being a loudly crying baby that was quickly but gently hushed by its mother.

"Raikoh…I need you to save our people. I _need_ you to get the wounded out of here, along with the healers and those who cannot fight. You know of the secret passage, correct?"

"Yes, father, in the sacred chamber. I remember you showing it to me years ago."

His father turned back to him, his look somewhat more determined this time. "The time has come to make use of that passage. Gather your men and get as many of these people out of here as you can! The passage will lead you to the halfway point of the river tunnel! Follow it to the opening of Horsetail Falls and leave this place! Time is of the essence!"

Raikoh nodded again, and turning on his heel, began barking out orders to the crowd around him. The soldiers under his command immediately leaped into action, alerting the healers to the retreat order and helping them carry the wounded into the shogun behind them. Others began to direct the civilians towards the keep as well, heading them like cattle to the pasture. Before long, the courtyard was devoid of many of its previous inhabitants, leaving Raikoh, his father, the procession of bodyguards, and a moderate amount of other soldiers behind.

"That should be it," Raikoh announced, nodding in satisfaction at the quick work of his men before turning back to his father.

"You'll being coming with me, then?" he asked, nodding as if he knew the answer.

But he didn't, as Alex suddenly realized when Raikoh's father didn't answer immediately…and avoided his son's gaze.

"Father? You _are_ coming…aren't you?" Raikoh said more gingerly, the confident tone leaving his voice.

Still no answer.

"Father? ! _Answer me!"_

The older man finally turned to face him…and Alex could see the faintest hint of tears in his eyes before he blinked them away.

"No, Raikoh. I will not," he said, with the upmost sense of finality.

"B-but…Father! I need your help! The _clan_ needs your help! I can't do this by myself!"

"You can, and you WILL!" the older man suddenly barked, his tone of voice quickly becoming angry and commanding. "They need you more than they need me!"

"I can't leave you to the demons. I _won't!"_

"Don't be a damn fool, Raikoh! I know Amunae trained you to be smarter than that!"

"Amunae and I can handle the demons ourselves! We can-!"

Raikoh suddenly fell silent…and somehow, Alex instantly knew that the fox spirit was telling him something. Something important, judging from how Raikoh's expression slowly changed from angry rebelliousness to a look of the most profound sadness Alex had ever seen from another human being.

"_Oh my god…"_ he thought. _"The poor guy…"_

He had read enough stories, and seen enough movies to know where this was going. He found himself wishing that there was something he could do…but he knew that he was just an observer. A mere witness…to what was perhaps the bravest act in a complete stranger's life.

Suddenly, there was a tremendously loud BANG against the iron gate far down the passage, and many of the soldiers let off cries of surprise as they doubled down on their positions and prepared for the shrieking, snarling mob of adversaries on the other side. Raikoh pulled himself out of his reverie at that moment, just in time to see his father come up and gently place both gauntleted hands on his shoulders.

"My son…my dearest, most wonderful son…" the older man said gently, putting his helmeted forehead against Raikoh's. "It is as Amunae said…there are losses that you will _have_ to accept in life, for better or for worse. I am old. My time has passed, and I am not long for this world anyways."

"Father…!" Raikoh choked out, barely holding back his own tears, trying his hardest not to cry in front of the other soldiers around them so as not to kill what little morale they had left.

"Let me have this one last battle, my son. Let me have a warrior's death, as I fight to protect the one man capable of putting an end to this madness. It is all up to you now, Raikoh…my son…the Samurai of the Moon! Stop Orochi, and end his reign of terror before it begins!"

Even against the terribly upset look on his face, Raikoh managed to show the barest hint of determination as he nodded and wiped his eyes clean of the accumulating moisture.

"Then fight well…father!" he said, reaching out and pulling the man into as tight a hug as they could manage with their heavy armor. "I promise…I will make them bleed for what they will take from me this day! Fight them father…and may all demon kind fall before your blade!"

Breaking the embrace, Raikoh's father nodded to him and backed a step away, drawing his sword and saying one simple word in farewell to his son:

"_Go!"_

Turning away from his son, Raikoh's father went to join his retinue of bodyguards as they formed up in their defensive positions. Another loud BANG radiated from the iron gate as the structure began to buckle, claws and other demonic appendages slipping through the crack between them.

One soldier fired his bow, the arrow slipping through and striking something on the other side, drawing a loud shriek as one of the appendages retreated.

But it wasn't enough. The gate would not hold. Alex knew that nothing could save the soldiers in the courtyard now.

Raikoh, casting one last forlorn glance at his father's back, turned and moved towards his waiting men at the open wooden doors of the shogun. Giving the command to fall back, he passed through right as two of his men grabbed a door handle on both sides and pulled the massive wooden portal shut, a final slam echoing through the courtyard.

"And so begins the end…" Alex heard Raikoh's father mutter…right before another SLAM echoed from down the narrow passage, the gate smashing open and the tide of darkness on the other side pouring through.

The soldiers closest to the gate were almost immediately overwhelmed by the attacking demons, and though the bow-wielding soldiers further back did what they could, they could not hold back the raging tide of hatred and fury.

"_For Lord Raikoh, and for the Takeda Clan! CHAAAARRRRRGGGEEE!"_ Raikoh's father bellowed, his battle cry met with dozens of others as he and his soldiers charged straight for the encroaching mob.

Right before they collided, there was a sudden flash of light…and everything disappeared under a sheet of darkness.

"_W…what…? …What happened?"_

Slowly coming back to his senses, Alex realized that he was now face-down on the ground…somehow, he had collapsed…and was still in the narrow stone passage just past the broken iron gate.

No sooner had he come to this realization when Amunae's presence suddenly jumped him, protectively wrapping about his consciousness like a blanket and refusing to let go despite the mental protest from the young man.

"_Alexander!"_ he exclaimed, very obviously checking him over for any damage. _"What on Nippon happened to you? You suddenly collapsed, and I could not reach your mind for the life of me! Your consciousness disappeared before I could react!"_

Alex was about to reply, when he suddenly remembered the last thing he had seen in the vision, with Raikoh's father meeting the demon charge head on…and before the fox could pelt him with more questions, he jumped to his feet and ran pell-mell down the passage, breaking out into the stone courtyard on the other side…

…and seeing nothing but a massive carpet of skeletons lining the ground, many still wearing their tattered old armor and clutching broken, rusted weapons in their hand.

"Oh my God…" he breathed. "What the hell…?"

Suddenly unable to keep himself up on his feet, he leaned against the wall and slid down it to the ground, his arms hanging limply at his sides, shaking his head as his mind attempted to catch up to his train of thought.

"_Alexander, what is wrong? Please, you must tell me immediately!"_ Amunae said hurriedly to him.

"_I…I think…I-I think it was another vision…another vision of Raikoh…"_ he shakily replied.

"_Another vision? ! What was it?"_

"…_His dad…the fall of Idaina-yosai…oh my God…they all died! They all DIED!"_

"_Alexander, listen to my voice! Do not let the darkness of these visions overtake you! Listen to my voice and COME BACK!"_

The fox's sudden shout served as a mental slap to the young man, and he let off a surprised grunt along with a shake his head.

"_OW! Oh geez…now I've got a killer headache! Thanks a lot!"_ he groaned, holding his head as the pain began to spike through it.

Seemingly satisfied with the result, Amunae loosened his protective hold on the young man's mind and settled down in his usual position at the back of his consciousness.

"_It will subside with time. Now tell me what you saw, and do not spare any details."_

And so Alex told him about what he had seen, about Raikoh and the fox himself, along with the man's father and the last stand he and his soldiers had while the section of the city around them burned.

During the entire explanation, Amunae remained perfectly silent, though through his mental eye, Alex could tell that the gears were turning in the kitsune's mind. Once he had finished, a slight scowl had come over Amunae's masked face as the kitsune pondered what Alex had said.

"_So, what does it mean? What did I see, WHY did I see it, and how is it that I'm the _only one_ who saw it?"_

The fox let off a curious sigh, and said, _"What you saw is exactly as you described to me…the fall of Idaina-yosai, the last battle within this place before it officially fell to the demons. As to exactly WHY you saw it and why you were the only one who saw it…I cannot say."_

"_You can't? But you must be over a millennium old! You don't have the slightest clue as to why I saw this? !"_

"_I may be an ancient entity, Alexander, but even I do not know everything. My only theory is that…maybe…the spirits of this place must be trying to show you something…something that you do not, or cannot comprehend just yet."_

"_But you have more of a connection to this place than me!"_ Alex said in an almost protesting manner._ "Why aren't they trying to contact YOU instead? You would understand more than I do!"_

"_As I said, I have only theories at this moment…perhaps more shall be revealed if we continue forward?"_

"_What! You STILL want me to keep going?"_

"_If you want the answers you so desperately crave, then yes."_

"_Aw man…I'm NOT looking forward to this."_

Standing up, he closed his eyes for a moment, to clear his head and mentally prepare himself for whatever mysteries lay ahead.

He opened them, and the remains of the massive shogun stood before him.

"_Here goes nothing…"_ he thought, stepping forward, grabbing onto the large handle of the massive wooden door, and prying it open with all his strength…

…unaware of the presence now watching him from the shadows of the passage behind.

"_A sudden collapse, a wild sprint into the main courtyard, and then such a strong reaction to the sight of all these skeletons…such odd behavior. I must inform the commander of this once I have learned all I can from this boy…for it seems that the real questions have only begun to be answered."_

Waiting a few seconds for the young man to go inside, the figure encased in black-dyed leather armor, wearing a lightweight mask under the hood of an equally dark-colored cloak, quickly and lightly stepped through the stone courtyard and made for the wall of the main building. Grabbing hold, he scaled the wall with superior grace and dexterity, making for one of the open windows high above that would provide him with a more silent means of entry.

Speed was of the essence…even more so when the time to strike finally came.

* * *

><p>A slight scrape from outside made the sleeping wolf's ear twitch, and raising her head up in curiosity, she stared at the open space that the house's door once occupied.<p>

Nothing…but she could have sworn that she heard _something._

But that was exactly the problem, wasn't it? There _wasn't_ supposed to be anything else here…she was certain that if it were Alex, he would have made a louder, more casual entrance, not a slight scrape and total silence afterwards.

Deciding that she could at least have a look, she stood and slowly limped on three legs towards the open space, Alex's wristguard-splint still holding her damaged foreleg straight. Feeling a chilling breeze of the cavern's wind as she stepped out of the fire's warm aura, she waited until her keen eyes adjusted to the darkness and went out into the street.

"_Alex?" _she mentally called out. _"Is that you?"_

No response…but she heard another scrape nearby…something like a boot step scraping along the ground.

She knew that Alex wasn't the sort to play tricks on people, especially in situations as serious as the one they were in, so she immediately grew suspicious.

Raising her nose to the air, she sniffed around a bit to see what she could find out.

She picked up Alex's scent almost immediately, and unconsciously relaxed a bit at the smell. However, she tensed up almost right afterwards when she detected something else.

It smelled of ash. It smelled of shadows…of burning bodies and screaming agony in the dark.

It smelled of demons.

A low growl slipped from her throat, as she slowly dipped down into her fighting stance, suddenly suspicious of the shadows lurking around her in this forsaken place beneath the mountains.

She heard it again, the scraping sound…this time further away, like it was moving away from her. She tried to follow, but was immediately hindered by her wounded leg and forced to stop.

Knowing she was in no state to pursue it, she eventually forced herself to calm down, as the sound slowly faded away into nothingness.

"_It was…probably just a rat. Maybe I'm just smelling things…" _she thought to herself. Perhaps spending so much time away from the sun was starting to affect her mind in some small way, reminding her of the previous times she had spent in consuming darkness such as this.

Such as the Ark, before she had cleansed it.

Shaking her head as she brushed away the painful memories of that place, she cast one last glance in the direction of the sound and slowly made her way back into the house…

…entirely unaware of the presence watching her from afar, perched on the high corner of a nearby building's roof…shrouded in darkness and hidden from sight.

"_Hmm…so even in such a powerless state, she still possesses superior senses that are akin to those of the form she takes. I must inform the commander of this. It may prove useful when he finally decides to make his approach...if he does not already know."_

Standing up smoothly and quietly from his crouched position, his black-dyed leather armor making barely a whisper of sound as it scraped over the lightweight mask attached to his face, Kurenai's silent soldier stepped back and leapt over the gap separating his building from the next one in line, quickly making his way down the street via the rooftops.

His only hope was that he wasn't too late for when the action began.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun Dun DUNNNN- *Shot dead*<strong>

**Amunae: "Please rate and review. It would be greatly appreciated."**

**No! Bad fox! No review requests for you! *Squirts with water bottle***

**Amunae: *Hisses and hides under author's bed***


	33. The Takeda Clan, part 2

**Whoo-boy...what a week it's been...**

**Yes, I know I promised to get this chapter in nearly a week earlier, but it seems fate conspired to make it late. What that means is that, due to a mixture of slight procrastination (Sorry Senom, looks like your gift for SitM's birthday was a tad defective), a surprise family reunion (yes, really), and a bunch of college-related crap, I couldn't write anything for the entire week that I promised to get this in to you guys.**

**Long story short...I'm not going to college this semester. I'm going to try for an actual job, instead. Oh joy...**

**Eh...but don't worry, mostly everything is worked out now, and it turned out a little better than I expected it to. Whoulda thunk it?**

**So I formally apolagize to all my readers for this chapter being so late, and I hope that you can forgive me. Something like this should hopefully not happen again.**

**So enjoy, and thanks for sticking around. I mean it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31: The Takeda Clan, part 2<strong>

Taking a quick peek through the opening in the massive double door, Alex slowly stepped inside, holding up his rosary for light as his bootsteps quietly echoed through the cavernous entrance chamber.

What he saw first were the large wooden tables that were lined up in rows down the entire length of the room, save for a central "lane" that was left open for all passersby's to get through. These tables were all flanked with equally long benches, and some even had the dusty, broken remains of plates and mugs on them, making it seem as though this place were a mess hall of sorts for the soldiers that once occupied this place.

Unfortunately, that was all he could gather…most of the furniture now had either been smashed apart by the demonic invaders or left alone to fall into disrepair as the years went by. A thick layer of dust coated everything, and spiderwebs crisscrossed nearly every conceivable corner within the massive chamber.

It was also quiet…_very_ quiet. So quiet that even Alex's breathing seemed deafeningly loud, as he slowly made his way down the central lane towards the back of the entrance chamber. As rosary light revealed what was ahead of him, he could spot two sets of stairs in the back, each one leading up to a second story that lined the edge of the chamber and led to various rooms hidden behind typical sliding paper doors.

As light fell on the space between the two sets of stairs, something on the wall suddenly opened up in front of Alex, making him stop and stare for a moment as he took it in.

It seemed to be a mural of some kind, stretching off several feet to both sides and reaching all the way down to the floor…but Alex couldn't immediately tell what it was depicting in the faint blue light of his rosary, making him step closer as he squinted to make it out.

He saw…a samurai, garbed in blue armor, lying on his back against a rocky mountainside of sorts and apparently helpless before some kind of dark shadow that dominated the entire right half of the mural. His arm was held out in the air before him…to shield himself, maybe? But the samurai didn't have a look of fear on his face…it was more of a look of angry denial in the face of impossible odds.

Peering closer, Alex realized that he held something in his upraised hand…a sword.

_Aku-Hametsu._

Alex could immediately tell by the fiery blue glow the weapon was emitting, captured in perfect detail by the artist. The bright blue aura had enveloped the samurai, causing the air to sparkle brightly as it drove away the shadows that had been reaching out towards him.

It was a warrior's defiant act of valor against an approaching darkness of unknown form. The age in the piece of art was apparent, but time had done nothing to ruin its effect, and Alex could only stand there and stare in awe at the magnificent piece.

When he had finally gotten his wits about him again, he asked, _"Amunae…who is that guy?"_

"_Does he not seem familiar to you already?"_ the kitsune responded.

Looking closer at the samurai in question, Alex's brow crinkled as he tried to look past the age of the mural.

"_Now that you mention it, it DOES feel like I've seen him before…but where…?"_

That was when he noticed the stark white hair, the slightly wrinkled face, and the determined look in the man's eyes, mixed with just a hint of swagger.

"_No way…that's the same guy I saw in your vision! It's…it's _Isamu_! But what's he doing with Aku-Hametsu?"_

"_This mural depicts the first moment Aku-Hametsu's power was discovered and unleashed. The sword had been presented to Isamu during the Pact Festival, by Chieftain Daichi himself…an act done in memory of my 'sacrifice' for the Takeda Clan's efforts…and he did not hesitate to carry the weapon into battle with him. This is but a rendition of that moment, when Isamu first unlocked Aku-Hametsu's power…with my help, of course…and defied his approaching doom."_

"_Pact Festival? Is that the same festival you were making Aku-Hametsu for? And how'd they even get the sword back? I thought your apprentice Songi stole it after he stabbed you!"_

In his mind, Alex caught sight of the kitsune's masked face…a somber look upon it, before he hid it beneath a serious and stoic look.

"_It is…something I would rather talk about later, if you are still curious about it then,"_ Amunae finally said.

"_But, Amunae…what's wrong?" _Alex asked, a confused look coming over his own face as he "looked" back at the fox.

It was a simple question, born mostly out of curiosity…but now, Alex could feel something along the lines of genuine concern creeping up in him.

He was slowly beginning to realize that, much like him, Amunae had his own secrets…secrets that were eating at him from the inside out.

Secret guilt, born from events in his past.

"_Amunae, what happened?" _Alex asked, pressing the fox for answers as gently as he could now. _"How did the Takeda Clan and the Mori Tribe get Aku-Hametsu back after Songi stole it?"_

The fox stared at him for a few seconds, before averting his gaze towards the ground and closing his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Alex slowly let it out before saying, _"Ok…I understand. It hurts too much to talk about it right now. I get that."_

The amount of concern he was suddenly showing Amunae at that moment was starting to surprise him, but Alex quickly filed it away. Obviously, this was something personal that the fox just didn't want to talk about just yet.

Alex could understand 'personal'.

Turning away from the mural, Alex eyed one of the nearby staircases and moved to go up it, before Amunae suddenly made a sound like he wanted to say something, before letting off a deep breath of his own.

"_Alexander…truly, I am sorry for all the secrecy. If I could reveal everything to you right at this moment, I would, but…there are just something things you _must_ find out for yourself before I can give you any answers. You MUST understand at least some form of what has happened in the past before I can give you an indication of the future that lies ahead. Just…please, be patient and everything will come to light soon."_

Alex stopped for a moment, going over what the fox had just said, before slowly nodding.

"_Ok…but I'm holding you to that,"_ he said, remembering the first time he had extracted such a promise from the kitsune…before adding, _"But, for future reference…you don't have to say anything you don't want to, ok?"_

"…_Perhaps not, but I might do so anyways."_

"_Fair enough. I'm just saying."_

"_I know, Alexander, I know…and…I thank you for your understanding."_

"_Hey, long as we're doing this, we might as well learn to trust each other, right?"_

Amunae smiled slightly and nodded, and Alex could tell that his mood had improved a small amount.

"_Alright…glad we had this little talk,"_ he concluded, making his way up the creaky stairs before him as he went to explore the second floor of the shogun.

* * *

><p>Quietly slipping between the open shutters of the shogun's open window, Kurenai's silent soldier fell into a crouch and quickly surveyed his surroundings, before crossing the length of the room he and entered so softly that only the barest hint of dust was stirred up in his wake. Lightly pressing himself against the wood-backed paper wall, careful not to rattle the lightweight architecture, he put his hooded head up to the wall and listened intently.<p>

Heavy bootsteps. As he thought, the boy was coming upstairs, and making no effort to be quiet despite the uneasy air of this place.

Yes…even _he_ could feel it. The air in this place seemed so _heavy,_ making the act of simply being inside the fortress of the long-dead Takeda Clan an unnerving experience. The sooner the commander had them finish their business here, the better.

As he listened, he heard the boy slide open one of the paper doors and pass into the back halls of the shogun, his metal boots clomping against the wooden floor.

The silent soldier saw him pass by the other side of the paper wall he was hiding behind, the blue light from the odd-looking rosary around his wrist casting his shadow against the paper wall…as the boy slowly came to a stop.

Kurenai's silent soldier held his breath, the fingers of his gloved hands twitching expectantly as he slowly, _carefully_ pulled back the edge of his black cloak and reached for the knife in his belt, taking a morbid sort of comfort in the feel of the weapon's curved hilt against his palm.

The commander had specifically ordered him NOT to kill the boy, to leave the young man for himself…but the silent soldier wouldn't hesitate to defend himself if the boy found him out and attacked first.

His lungs began to burn as the breath he was holding to keep himself silent began to run out. If the boy didn't move _soon…_

Fortunately, he never had to finish the thought. The heavy bootsteps continued as the shadow passed by, and Kurenai's silent soldier let the air out of his lungs as quietly as he could, removing his hand from the knife and bringing his cloak back over his shoulder again.

"_Thank your Brush Gods that they decided to let you live, boy…"_ he thought menacingly. _"I could have sliced your throat out before you even had a chance to scream for help."_

* * *

><p>"<em>Why did you stop, Alexander?" <em>Amunae questioned.

"_I don't know…just a weird feeling I guess."_

"_Hmm…"_ the fox mused, but said nothing else on the matter as Alex made his way through the darkened back halls of the shogun, the smooth wooden pathways flanked on all sides by paper walls and doors. Some sections had holes torn in them, like something had either cut or smashed its way through. Pieces of the grid-shaped wood bracing lay broken and scattered across the floor, as the sheets of paper still attached hung silently in the still air, no longer held in place.

"_It's almost like a maze in here...better be careful not to get lost," _Alex thought to himself.

Slowly pacing down the path ahead of him, Alex decided on a whim to slide open one of the paper doors and peer inside, wondering if he could find out anything more about this place.

Nothing of interest…just a simple room with a single shin-high table, a small dresser in the back, and a dressing screen against the corner, complete with a roughshod mannequin for placing armor on when not in use.

"_A room, for an esteemed warrior of the keep…such as one of the samurai that swore service to Raikoh and his predecessors,"_ Amunae explained.

"_And the regular soldiers stayed in the longhouses outside, I'm guessing?"_

In his mind, Amunae nodded to him. _"Elite soldiers who dedicated their entire lives to the Takeda's cause generally received better treatment...one of the perks of such treatment included a better room. It is as simple as that."_

"_Did Raikoh's dad live in one of these rooms?"_ Alex asked.

There was a moment of silence from the fox, before he slowly nodded. Alex realized then that he might have brushed against a still somewhat sensitive topic, and wisely decided to shut his mouth.

Sliding the door closed, Alex continued down the hall, occasionally stopping to peer into one room or another, and finding nothing of real use or interest.

…That is, until he slid one door open, and immediately noticed the significantly larger size of the room he had revealed.

Most of it was actually stark and bare, save for a more regular sized table (also in terrible condition) taking up a small space in the center, flanked by two chairs: one smashed to bits, and the other overturned. Not even this simple room had been left untouched by the demonic invaders.

Stepping inside, Alex turned a slow circle as he took in the otherwise bare room, wondering to himself what it was possibly used for back in Idaina-yosai's heyday. With his rosary light filling the room, he also spotted a small stone fireplace sitting against the wooden back wall, unlit and undisturbed for centuries.

"_A meeting room, for esteemed guests,"_ Amunae answered him, and Alex found himself unsurprised by the fox's increasingly typical intrusion on his thoughts. _"Raikoh, as well as his predecessors, often held face-to-face meetings with those whom the Takeda Clan held as trusted allies."_

"_Face-to-face? What, it was too hard to send a letter or something?"_

"_It was a popular belief among the Takeda that the truest form of interaction with someone else, be it a friend or enemy, was up close and personal…essentially, face-to-face. With that thought in mind, it may not come as a surprise to you that the Clan never employed assassins of any type…even with my people, the masters of shape shifting and disguise, aiding them."_

"_So backstabbing and all that crap was looked down on?"_

"_Precisely, young one."_

Moving up to the table, Alex raised his gauntleted hand up slightly and brushed it along the top of the decrepit table, his fingers leaving trails upon the dusty surface.

"_With every step I take, I literally _feel_ more and more of the history of this place…"_ he thought. "_What were the Takeda up to down here? What was all the secrecy about? Why were they fighting the demons and this 'Black Hand'?"_

As soon as the questions passed through his mind, it happened again.

Whispering.

Before he could react, his vision suddenly blurred, vertigo overtook him, and he leaned against the table for support before the fragile piece of furniture broke apart under his weight, sending him down to the ground as Amunae's worried shout echoed faintly away into his mind.

His vision went dark…

For a few seconds, he heard nothing…nothing but the sound of his heavy breathing in his ears.

And then…

"More tea, ambassador?" a formal sounding voice asked.

"Ah, yes, thank you," a lighter toned, but equally formal voice answered.

Several clinks and the sound of pouring liquid.

"My apologies for the wait. Lord Raikoh will be with you momentarily, ambassador," the first voice spoke respectfully.

"Thank you. That will be all."

There was the sound of receding footsteps, followed by one of the paper doors sliding open and closed.

Warm. The room was warm…and bright. Those was the first things Alex noticed.

Cracking his eyes open, Alex noticed the warm golden glow that suffused the room he was now laying on the floor of. Several candles burned on tiny wall-mounted sconces, and a strong fire was blazing in the stone fireplace across the room. The table that had fallen apart under him was now standing again, this time in far better condition…and from his perspective underneath it, he could see the feet of someone sitting on the other side, wearing sandals…

Stilt-like sandals. They seemed oddly familiar.

Pulling his arms around and pushing himself up, the lack of alarm or even an acknowledgement from the unknown figure confirmed to Alex that he once again was simply a witness to another mysterious vision.

Amunae was going to pelt him with an unending stream of questions at this rate, depending on what he saw. He wasn't looking forward to that.

Once his eyes rose above the level of the tabletop, Alex stopped as he saw the figure.

"_No way…"_ he breathed.

Waist-length blonde hair.

A long, pink-colored shirt, complete with violet pants, both decorated with various symbols.

Skin so pale, it was almost unnatural.

And the _freaking sandals…_

"_It can't be…the Fruit Basket?"_

Waka was the first person to come to mind, but the more Alex looked as this figure, the less he was sure. Whereas Waka seemed aloof and…well, _fruity,_ this figure seemed to hold a more _refined_ air about him. From the few words Alex had heard him speak, he seemed very polite, not at all the sort of person who would jump a novice swordsman and challenge him to a vastly one-sided duel. In addition, Alex could see nothing that looked like a weapon – or even a _secret_ weapon – on him.

But that made sense, considering that this man was apparently an ambassador…no doubt on a peace mission.

Moving around the table and leaning in close, Alex tilted his head as he stared dead-on at the mysterious man that looked almost like Waka…and yet, it _wasn't _him. The man, in the meantime, simple sipped at his tea while he looked over a small scroll that was partially unrolled and laying atop the table in front of him. The various symbols written upon it held no meaning to Alex, so he went back to silently studying the man at an uncomfortably close range…until he heard one of the slider doors open.

Looking up, Alex saw a heavily armored samurai in his full suit of metallic blue armor appear in the doorway and give the ambassador a quick bow.

"Presenting Takeda Raikoh, Lord of the Takeda Clan, Samurai of the Moon, and -"

"Oh for the Brush Gods' sakes, enough with the titles and fanfares!" A voice suddenly barked from out in the halls. "The ambassador and I already know each other! Now will you please _move!_"

There was a sudden commotion as an increasingly familiar sight shoved his way past the samurai, much to the soldier's chagrin. Raikoh, looking a tad younger and dressed in a trim and official-looking dark blue kimono, with Aku-Hametsu across his back, let off an annoyed huff at the same time that he smirked at the ambassador.

"Sorry about that…it seems even these days, you can't avoid the annoyance of formalities," Raikoh quipped, holding his hand out as the ambassador stood up from his chair and shook it warmly.

"Yes, but without the order such formalities bring, what is stopping us from descending into chaos?" the ambassador replied, earning another smirk from Raikoh.

"You're talking to the man who is allied with _kitsune, _Ambassador Sugawara."

Alex got the feeling that the name held some significance, but he didn't know why, aside from the ambassador stuff.

Sugawara chuckled and both men sat down, as more of the samurai filed in past the first one and took up positions along the wall all around the room.

"A bit much, wouldn't you say old friend?" Sugawara said, glancing about at the heavily armored soldiers, before his gaze settled on Raikoh's sword.

"You'll have to forgive the enhanced security, Ambassador. Rumor has it that Old One-Eye is up to her tricks again, and you and I BOTH know how dangerous she can be. Think of all this as an extra precaution."

"_Old One-Eye?" _Alex thought. _"That's what Amunae said when Ammy told me about the kitsune Ninetails...is Raikoh talking about the same one?"_

"Ah, yes, I know of her…a vile creature, she is. You make a valid argument, Takeda Raikoh."

"Agreed, but we are getting off topic. You've come a long way, so I imagine you would like to take care of business…concerning your yearly report on us to the Royal Family you work on behalf of."

"Of course," Sugawara replied, glancing back down at the scroll he had been reading. "I have been looking over the record of your clan's…_activities_ during the past year, and I must say… even if only half of the things written down here are true, then the Takeda Clan has once again exceeded the Royal Family's expectations. On behalf of them, and the people Moon Tribe, I thank your Clan for their hard work and dedication in the face of such impossible odds."

"_T-the Moon Tribe…!"_ Alex mentally gasped. _"But…Ishi said they were only legends! I-if they really existed, then…Waka…!"_

It was impossible to deny now, especially with the similarities that Alex was seeing between the appearances of Waka and this 'Sugawara'.

Waka, that crazy-ass Fruit Basket, was a member of the fabled Moon Tribe.

But even as these revelations came to light for him, the conversation between the two men in front of him continued. In the face of such high praise, it came as no surprise that Raikoh smiled and nodded, before eventually saying, "Thank you, Sugawara, but your praise is not needed. We do this on behalf of Nippon and all the free peoples within it. I tend to see it as more of a job that simply needs doing."

Sugawara chuckled slightly as he rolled up the scroll and handed it over the table back to Raikoh. "Well, regardless of how you view it, the people of Nippon are indebted to you…even if they do not know it."

"Yes, well, I imagine you of all people would understand the need for secrecy," Raikoh said, as he handed the document off to one of his guards. "And you know something? All of us, the Takeda Clan, the Moon Tribe, and the Mori Tribe…we are some of the most secretive peoples in all of Nippon; and yet, somehow, we found our way to each other."

Leaning forward on the table, he rapped his knuckles against the table for effect as he continued. "If I will tell you _one thing,_ Ambassador, it is that Nippon is a land of secrets, and that is unlikely to change in the future. But it is a land that I will nonetheless fight to the death to protect. That is what my family has done for centuries past, ever since the clan was founded…ever since Aku-Hametsu first found its way into the hand of my ancestor, Lord Isamu…and it will be our legacy for however many years are to come!"

Sugawara nodded, folding his hands together as Raikoh finished his little speech, before answering the Lord of the Takeda.

"And rest assured, old friend, your allies in the Moon Tribe will stand with you…to the bitter end, if need be," he said, reaching forward and grabbing Raikoh's wrist in a reaffirming grip.

"_Does he mean…oh my God…"_ Alex thought, his mind finally piecing the puzzle together.

"_Is the MOON TRIBE…of ALL PEOPLE…allied with the freaking Takeda Clan too? ! How many allies do these guys have? !"_

"But enough sentiments…I shall require but one last thing from you, Raikoh, and that will be all I need for my report to the Royal Family," Sugawara spoke, retracting his arm and folding his hands together again.

"Name it, then."

"I need to see it…_directly."_

The friendly look dropped right off of Raikoh's face, and was immediately replaced with one of absolute seriousness.

"…I see," the Lord of the Takeda finally replied. "No doubt, the Royal Family wishes to know if we are treating their 'gift' with the proper care, then."

"I know I am asking much, Raikoh, but the Royal Family _specifically_ asked this of me. I _must_ see it with my own eyes, to ensure that it is still being properly taken care of, and in as good a condition as the day we first gave it to your clan long, long ago."

Raikoh stared hard at Sugawara for a minute, while Alex could only wonder what they were possibly talking about.

Finally, the Lord of the Takeda nodded, saying, "Very well. I wouldn't want to be the one to invoke the Royal Family's wrath. Come with me, Ambassador."

Both men stood up, Raikoh broad frame towering over Sugawara's, and they slowly made their way through the door that Raikoh's bodyguards were quick to open for him, before filing out of the room after their lord.

Following them out into the halls, Alex caught sight of the other rooms in the maze of paper walls, now lit up brightly as their occupants went about their business. Alex could see the silhouettes of them performing various tasks, like eating or practicing sword movements, as the group made their way to the far door and out onto the wooden balcony that ringed the inside of the main entrance chamber.

"_Whoa…this place filled up fast,"_ Alex thought, as he went up to the railing and looked down.

All of the smashed or overturned tables that he had seen when coming in were all fixed now, and the room was brightly lit with a combination of braziers and torches. Occupying said tables were what Alex realized were _dozens_ of the same soldiers that he had seen protecting this very shogun in the first vision he had since entering the proximity of this place. Large platters of food and drink had been arrayed along the tables before them, and all of them were eating heartily as a pleasant level of chatter and even some simple music reached the young man's ears.

Apparently, it was lunch time right now.

Alex soon realized that the group was moving again, and taking advantage of the balcony's width, he quickly jogged past the line of samurai and took up position next to Raikoh and Sugawara, the two men of completely opposite looks making their way down the stair to ground level…right in front of the mural of Isamu's valiant stand, now looking to be in _far _better condition than when Alex had seen it, but still very old.

Some of the chatter died down, replaced with hushed whispers as many eyes fell upon Sugawara and his painfully obvious hair. The ambassador seemed to pay no heed, however, his attention focused on Raikoh as he waited for the group to assemble by the mural.

"Look, it's Lord Raikoh! And…who is he with?" a voice said from almost directly behind Alex.

"That man…he's from the Moon Tribe, you know…" a gruff sounding voice answered.

Turning around, he saw a group of three normal Takeda soldiers that held a spot at the closest ends of one of the tables. One of them, Alex recognized as the young man from his first vision, Haru, the soldier searching for his brother in the chaos ravaging the city…and another, the other soldier that had restrained him when he had freaked out at the gate guard. The third, Alex didn't recognize.

"Are you certain, Haru?" the unknown soldier asked.

"Just look at him, brother!" Haru stated, proving to Alex the other soldier's identity. "His hair, his clothing…he looks nothing like the people I've seen, even those fancy nobles in Sei-an City!"

"I don't care how he dresses…I still won't like the looks of him," the two brothers' friend stated, picking up a clump of rice with his chopsticks and stuffing it in his mouth. "His people, oh-ho-ho…they're a fishy lot," he muttered through his full mouth, pointing with the utensils for effect.

"I know, but we've all seen the records…" Haru stated. "The clan's been allies with them since the days before Lord Isamu and the Awakening of Aku-Hametsu."

"And besides, you old goat…!" Haru's brother stated jokingly, reaching across the table and hitting the older soldier on the shoulder. "We're allied with a bunch of talking, shape shifting _foxes!_ Land of Darkness, Goro, we've _been_ allied with them for even longer than the Moon Tribe! They've been with us since the day the clan was first founded!"

"Well THEY are a different story," the older soldier, now identified as Goro, grumbled. "They've proven themselves to us more times than we can count…and at least they don't retreat to hide on the moon once the business is taken care of."

"Bah! You're just paranoid, you old goat! Or my name isn't Katsu the Victorious!" Haru's brother retorted, smacking Goro's shoulder again before returning to his meal.

"More like Katsu the Thick-Headed…" Goro muttered under his breath, making Haru snort loudly in amusement before subsequently choking on the sake he was drinking.

Turning his attention back to Raikoh and Sugawara, Alex saw that their group was fully assembled in front of the mural, the group of samurai keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings as the two important men faced the wall mural in front of them.

"Isamu's discovery of Aku-Hametsu's power?" Sugawara mused. "What are you trying to show me, Raikoh?"

"Exactly what you wanted to see, Ambassador," the Lord of the Takeda replied. "The location of what I am about to show you, Sugawara…the Sacred Chamber…never leaves Idaina-yosai. Is that understood?"

"Considering the potential consequences if I revealed it…you have my solemn word, Raikoh. My lips are sealed."

Nodding, Raikoh gave a quick motion to his samurai, and the warriors immediately lined up in a semi-circle around the two men, blocking off any line of sight to them from outside it and sealing Alex in with them.

Reaching forward to the mural, Raikoh brushed his hand over the ancient piece of art, until it stopped over one of the large sparkle designs within Isamu's protective aura…almost like a miniature sun in of itself.

Pressing lightly, the sparkle design suddenly yielded under Raikoh's hand, and Sugawara brought his hand to his chin in intrigue.

Releasing the pressure, Raikoh removed his hand as the section of the mural sudden reversed and jutted outward beyond its boundries…a hidden knob of sorts, as Alex quickly realized. Just as intrigued as Sugawara was, if no more so, Alex watched as the Lord of the Takeda grabbed the knob and began to turn it.

Five cycles to the right. Two to the left. Three more to the right. Once done, Raikoh pushed the knob back in, and a sudden groan echoed through the room as the section of wall that the mural was painted upon suddenly jolted…and began to slide down.

A hidden door.

"Son of a bitch…" Alex whispered to himself, shaking his head.

The door hit bottom with a loud _thud_, and beyond it, Alex could only see a wide passageway, with stairs leading down into the darkness it contained.

"After you, Ambassador," Raikoh said, gesturing for Sugawara to go first.

As the samurai stood guard, Sugawara stepped into the passage first, followed closely by Raikoh. Alex made to follow them himself, but before he could cross the threshold, his vision suddenly blurred again and he lost his balance, falling onto his hand and knees before collapsing flat on the ground.

* * *

><p>Noticing that the boy was collapsed on the ground again, the broken pieces of the table surrounding him, the silent soldier quietly and cautiously moved into the room, his shadowed footsteps making barely a whisper of sound, one hand kept near his dagger and the other near the sword on his back.<p>

It would have been so easy to finish the boy right then and there…but the commander's orders had been clear: no one was to touch the boy but him. And the soldier did not want to face the commander's wrath…the last time he had seen it, it had taken him _hours _to clean the blood off his armor.

Noticing that the boy was beginning to stir, the silent assassin-soldier did a quiet, panicked little hop before quickly retreating back out into the hall and taking cover in the nearby shadows, watching as he shook his head and slowly began to rise.

* * *

><p>"<em>Alexander? Are you alright?"<em> Amunae asked, watching him with concern as he regained conciousness.

"_Yeah…yeah, I think so…it was another vision I think."_

"_What did you see this time?"_

"_Some guy named Sugawara…and Raikoh again. They were talking about a report to…"_

The memories surged forth again, and Alex took a deep breath before asking, _"Amunae…was the Moon Tribe allied with the Takeda Clan?"_

The kitsune was silent for a moment, before saying, _"…These visions of yours have been rather informative, I see..."_

"_Is it true, then?"_

Amuane regarded him for a moment, as if reluctant to tell him, before the fox slowly nodded. _"Yes, young one, they were…but the details on that will have to wait until later. There is one last thing yet to be seen before you can understand, and it is by far the most important detail of all."_

"_Is it whatever's in that 'Sacred Chamber' they keep talking about, behind that secret door-mural of Isamu?"_

The kitsune's head drew back in surprise, before he asked, _"How on Nippon did you find out about THAT?"_

"_I've been telling you, fox-face! It's these damn visions I keep having!"_

More silence from the fox…

"_Hmph. Informative, indeed," _Amuane finally muttered._ "Did this vision show you how to open said secret door, as well?"_

"_You bet your ass, it did!"_

"_Then show me, young one."_

Alex stood up, shaking off his disorientation enough to start walking…and he passed right by the silent assassin-soldier's hiding spot, the masked man watching intently as he went through the halls and back out the door onto the balcony before following quietly.

Hopping, skipping, and jumping down the steps, apparently in more of a hurry than he realized, Alex skidded to a stop in front of Isamu's mural and immediately regarded the left half of the painting, the bright blue aura and its sparkling designs in particular.

"_Now which one was it…?"_ he thought, testing each one, before finally discovering one that felt slightly "loose".

Biting his tongue in hopes that he was right, Alex pressed on it…and it slid inward.

"_See? I told you!" _ he said triumphantly to the fox.

He only received silence in return, which killed the moment for him.

"_Spoil-sport…" _he muttered, grabbing the now-exposed knob and twisting it, discovering that the mechanism was slightly rusted and aged, but thankfully still able to be turned.

Five to the right. Two to the left. Three to the right. Just like Raikoh did in his vision.

It was so _surreal…_he was repeating history, after witnessing it like he had actually been there. It was almost impossible for him to comprehend, because it went against nearly everything he believed in terms of superstition and "otherworldly powers."

Not that everything he had seen in Nippon was excluded…it was just that things like Ammy's ink powers and Oki's ability to transform into a wolf seemed more…"understandable".

Unlike these visions of the past, perhaps given to him by "spirits" as Amunae had theorized…what was next, communing with the dead?

"_And then…press it in," _he finally thought to himself, once he had finished the combination.

The knob slid back into its hiding place…and sure enough, another groan split the air as the wall suddenly shifted and began to slide down with a loud grinding noise. A cloud of dust over a century old spilled out from the increasingly large opening, making Alex cough and step back, even as the soldier-assassin watching from the balcony silently swore from where he stood, and began making a mental note of everything he was seeing from this moment onward.

"_What have you uncovered, boy?"_ he thought to himself, staying hidden and watching his quarry for a reaction as the door hit bottom and the dark passage fully revealed itself to the young man.

Peering down the dark, wide staircase as far as he could with his rosary's light, Alex gulped a bit nervously, his mouth suddenly dry.

Something about what he had found seemed…off. VERY off.

"_Do not show fear at this critical moment, young one,"_ Amunae spoke in his mind, taking on a reassuring tone of voice. _"What you seek lies within…you cannot turn away now."_

"_What makes you think I was just going to back off, fox-face? !"_ Alex snapped, in what was perhaps a subconscious effort to make himself sound braver. _"Geez, you gotta have more faith in me!"_

"_We will discuss faith at a later time. For now, the answers buried in the past await you."_

"_Well…no progress without risks, I guess,"_ Alex replied, setting his jaw and taking the first step down into the passage…into the bowls of the darkness within.

* * *

><p>As the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting its warm orange and red glow across the majestic mountains and the expanse of forest at their bases, Wolf-Oki crested the hill with Issun riding atop his head once more, the former covered in trail dust, panting heavily, and looking to be thoroughly exhausted once more, while the latter appeared much more well-rested, hopping up and down as he took in the newest sight before them.<p>

"Hey Fuzz-for-Brains! Look up there!" the poncle exclaimed, pointing in the direction of a mountain in the distance.

Wolf-Oki raised his tired head up just enough to see what Issun was talking about, and his eyes widened a bit as he saw the source of the poncle's excitement.

It was a strong waterfall, flowing down the side of the relatively flat mountain face into a small lake below, out of a hole that no doubt led further into the ancient geological formation.

Hosetail Falls. It was close, perhaps only another half-day's hike from where they were.

"That's where we're going, right?" Issun said, pulling out the map again and looking over the accompanying illustration of the location there were supposedly at. "Looks like there's some kind of trail along the mountain face that leads up to it…"

Looking up from the map towards the falls, Issun grimaced.

"Hoo-boy…that's gonna be some hike from the looks of it. You sure you're up for it, Fuzzball?"

Wolf-Oki said nothing, but manage a weak nod. It had been nearly four days since his last period of decent rest, and what little sleep he had gotten in that time had been plagued with nightmares and memories of what he had lost.

Amaterasu. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her, the very sight forcing him to wake up over and over, refusing to let him rest.

Combined with his reserves of strength and sheer willpower, the brief naps were just enough to keep him going…but he was quickly reaching his limit, and Oki was beginning to doubt if he could keep this up much longer.

But he couldn't afford to stop. He just _couldn't._ The memories plaguing him wouldn't let him. Had he been more rested, he might have been worried by the path he was taking…but right now, he wasn't going to stop when they were _so close._

For better or for worse, it didn't matter. Wolf-Oki took a deep breath and forced his four legs to keep moving, keeping his gaze locked solidly on the path ahead of him as he ignored the exhausted screams his body was throwing at him.

"I…uh…I guess I'll take that as a yes…" Issun muttered, shaking his head as his worry for the wolf-man grew ever larger.

* * *

><p>More murals.<p>

That was the first thing he saw: more murals, decorating the stone walls of the wide and spacious passage he was in…all of them, depicting a tale of some kind that was told as he walked further and further down the stone stairs. The light from the Fox-Fire Beads cast a ghostly blue glow over the pictures, making him unconsciously breathe less heavily, as though even something as light as his breath would disturb the sanctity of this place.

There was darkness here…and silence.

"_It's so quiet here…I can almost hear my heartbeat. And these murals…what are they showing?"_

Looking at one section as he passed by, he saw the image of one man, standing tall above a crowd of other people as his figure was framed in the light of the rising sun behind him. The crowd was a mixture of humans and kitsune from the looks of it, and they were all staring at him in awe, as his face was frozen in what looked to be mid-speech.

"_The first ancestor of the Takeda family and the creator of the clan, giving the first great speech that would become the basis of the Clan's mission, over a millennium ago…and the forging of the pact between humans and kitsune, when our separate peoples set aside their differences and chose to fight a common enemy," _Amunae explained.

"_The demons…and the Black Hand,"_ Alex confirmed, to which Amuane nodded. _"And the Pact Festival?"_

"_A celebration of our two peoples' union…when our oaths to help and protect each other in times of need were both renewed and honored."_

"_Wow…"_

Going further down, Alex then saw a picture that looked remarkably similar, only this time, it was a very ferocious looking man, wearing pitch-black armor and framed in blood red light, surrounded by a much less composed crowd of similarly dressed humans and wildly cheering demons.

"_But as the sun brings light to one half of the world, so must the moon bring darkness to the other…" _Amunae spoke. _"And so, the darkness gave birth to the Black Hand…humans who gave into their dark desires for power and wealth, pledging allegiance to the demons and turning their back on the mortal races of Nippon."_

"_But the Takeda Clan wouldn't stand for that, right?"_ Alex said, passing on to the next section of the mural.

This one depicted a massive battle taking place, of blue-garbed soldiers and kitsune clashing violently with a horde of demons, and similar soldiers garbed in red and black. It was two armies fighting for dominance, as the two men in the last two sections of the mural fought atop a large hill in between their battling armies. Their swords were locked, their cloaks were flowing, and sky itself took part in the conflict above them: black clouds pushed against blue sky, as the heavens themselves engaged in battle.

"_There must always be a balance…and as such, there is always one being of light that will rise up to confront his shadowy nemesis. So began the first in the near-endless stream of battles over the fate of Nippon. The Takeda Clan, and the Black Hand…the realm of Nippon, and the Land of Darkness…light and shadow…good and evil," _Amunae spoke, with a kind of reverence that Alex had never heard from him before.

Continuing down the passage, Alex saw many more sections of the mural that depicted one battle after another. In some, light shone brightly as the Takeda Clan proved victorious…and in others, the sky turned blood-red as the demons and Black Hand conquered and destroyed.

"_Each side fought for dominance over Nippon, over the course of hundreds of years…but soon, the scales were to tip in the Takeda's favor, for a previously unknown ally showed itself…"_ Amunae explained, before directing Alex's attention to the next section of the long mural.

It showed beings of ghostly light, descending from a brilliantly white orb in the sky of the painting, as those on the ground stared in awe. One of these ghostly beings, his blonde hair sticking out against the other colors of the painting, was being met by one of the Takeda's leaders…and both their arms were extended, as they shook hands.

"_The Moon Tribe revealed themselves to us…offered us a way to take the battle straight to the demons without having to wait for _them_ to come to _us_. They, like many others, had suffered hardships at the hands of demons, and wished for nothing more than to see them – and those allied with them – brought to justice."_

Alex could only stare at the paintings, the pieces of the puzzle finally coming together in his head. _"That explains Ambassador Sugawara in that second vision…but what were they talking about, with this 'Sacred Chamber'?" _he asked.

"_See for yourself. The truest answer…the answer to Idaina-yosai, the answer to the true nature of the Takeda's conflict with demonkind and the Black Hand… lies just ahead."_

Spotting the end of the passage ahead, opening up into a much large room beyond, Alex steeled himself and stepped through.

It was a wide and spacious chamber of smoothed out stone, he noticed…large enough to hold a contingent of soldiers, perhaps? For the most part, however, the chamber lay bare…

Except for one thing…one thing that made Alex stop dead and stare as the breath caught in his throat.

"_Oh my God…"_

(_Ao no Exorcist OST – E-Aria battlefield_)

It was some kind of massive archway…made out of solid metal, from the looks of it, and reaching up to the very ceiling of this large cavern beneath the shogun. The entire structure was a midnight black color, seeming to reflect the endless eternity of the night sky. It also seemed to be covered in lines of _pure energy_, glowing a bright green in the darkness, and hurting Alex's eyes after so much exposure to the blue light of his rosary.

Moving closer against his better judgment, Alex noticed that it was crafted in a sort of…spikey design? Sections of it stuck out, particularly one layer on the left and three more on the right, as though it was meant to look menacing in a way…and indeed it did.

He also felt a distinctive humming through his body…barely noticeable, but growing a bit stronger as he approached it. It was strong…an indicator to whatever kind of power lay within this structure.

Getting right up to it, Alex noticed that there was some kind of "surface" within the area of the arch, covered in dust and making it almost impossible to see what it was.

Raising his hand gingerly, his curiosity overrode his common sense…and he reached out to touch it, finding that the surface was as smooth as glass as he swept his hand across it to clean off the dust.

It _was_ glass…glass so reflective, that it almost looked like a _mirror._

Staring at his own reflection, his armored figure with Aku-Hametsu strapped to his back, Alex raised an eyebrow as he looked closer.

He couldn't be sure, but it was almost like he appeared…darker, in a way?

"_Young one, I would advise against getting much closer."_

"_Oh! Uh…yeah, sure,"_ he thought suddenly, Amunae's voice pulling him a step away from the mysterious structure. _"But Amunae…what the hell IS this thing?"_

Stepping back further and staring at the glowing green lines that covered the structure and formed oddly twisting designs upon its surface, he continued with, "_If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this was almost…pure technology!"_

"_Very perceptive of you,"_ Amunae remarked.

"_Wait…you mean I'm RIGHT?"_

"_Indeed."_

"_But…HOW? ! This kind of stuff…I mean, I don't think something like this can even be created where I'M from! How does something this advanced exist in goddamn FEUDAL JAPAN?"_

"_One, we are in Nippon, young one…not this 'Japan' you speak of. Two, do you remember what your healer friend Ishi told you about the Legend of the Moon Tribe, and how she said that they had to have been an immensely advanced people in order to find a way to the celestial body where they made their home?"_

Alex thought it over, and indeed, he remembered the healer's tale.

"_This, young one, is the true secret of the Takeda Clan…a centuries-old gift to them, from the fabled Moon Tribe itself…"_ Amunae stated, raising his voice for effect. _"It is a gate between dimensions…a way for the defenders of Nippon to travel from the land of their birth, straight to the place that Nippon's sworn enemy originates from…the Land of Darkness!"_

The news absolutely astounded Alex, and he could only put a hand to his head as he took it all in.

"_You're telling me…that this thing…is a goddamn WARP GATE? !"_

"_Call it what you will, young one, but its nature does not change. This is how the Takeda clan fought their battle against the shadows…by launching their assaults straight into the heart of the enemy, by causing so much damage to the demons' war effort that pending attacks upon the land of Nippon were stalled and sometimes even stopped altogether."_

"_You're serious? Are you really freaking SERIOUS?"_

"_I have never been more serious about something in my entire existence, young one. This WAS the Takeda Clan's biggest advantage in their fight against the demons…bigger than the Moon Tribe's allegiance, bigger than their pact with the Mori Tribe, and bigger than even Aku-Hametsu and I at our most powerful!"_

"_Son of a bitch…"_ Alex thought. "…_then this 'battle against the shadow' wasn't just a few skirmishes! This was a _war effort, _a goddamn _CRUSADE!"

"_And it was because of this war that Nippon's impending doom was delayed as long as it was…for centuries, those of the Takeda Clan stood as the unsung heroes of Nippon, defending the land of their birth from the shadows that sought to encroach upon it!"_

It was too much for Alex to take, and he suddenly found himself having to sit down, not trusting his weakened leg to hold him up.

* * *

><p>Behind the young man, the soldier-assassin watching from the shadows of the passage behind, fell back against the wall, as equally surprised by this amazing discovery as his quarry was.<p>

"_This…this is incredible! I must inform the commander of this!"_ he thought hurriedly, getting his wits back about him and taking off back up the stairs as quietly as he could, going into full pelt as he reached the entrance chamber and went out the shogun's double door, disappearing into the city.

* * *

><p>"<em>So that's it then…"<em> Alex finally thought. _"This is their big secret…good God…"_

"_Do you understand now, young one? This is what you were meant to see, in order for you to finally understand the magnitude of what the Takeda Clan's mission was."_

"_But…why? Why did I have to see all this? I mean, I know this stuff is important, but…why did I HAVE to know this?"_

"_That, I will explain to you later, as you sleep,"_ the fox said. _"But for now, you must be exhausted…and Amaterasu is likely wondering where you are right now."_

"_Oh man…" _Alex groaned, as recent memories resurfaced. _"You HAD to remind me about her…"_

"_You would have to face her again at some point, young one…"_

"_Yeah, your right…I just hope she's still ok, being by herself all this time…"_

* * *

><p>"He found WHAT? !" Kurenai shouted, the loud noise making those around him flinch at the temporary break in stealth.<p>

"I tell you nothing but the truth, sir!" the soldier-assassin exclaimed. "He has found what was only rumored to exist by our clan's legends! He found the source of the Takeda's power, which we once thought was lost after the demons attacked this place in our clan's stead! I swear it upon my life, sir!"

Kurenai turned away from the man, looking at the ground as he processed this incredible information.

It was here?

It actually DID exist?

And if it did…was it still functional?

"You!" he suddenly barked to one of his soldiers, the man quickly standing at attention. "Return to Lord Nobunaga and inform him of our discovery! Make haste!"

The man put his fist against his chest in salute and bowed quickly, before turning and leaping off the side of the building they were all standing upon.

"The rest of you, to arms! We proceed with the Lord's orders at once!"

There was a sudden clatter of swords and daggers being drawn, as well as bows being pulled off their owners' shoulders and nocked with arrows fletched with crow tengu feathers.

"_And so, the hunt begins once more…"_ Kurenai thought to himself, bringing his scythe to bear as his black armor rustled from the movement. _"I look forward to adding some new trophies to my wall."_

* * *

><p>Ammy's eyes cracked open as she woke up again, the first thing she noticed being the fire having died down a bit.<p>

"_Alex still hasn't returned?" _she thought to herself, raising her head up as she stared at his cloak still lying on the ground.

She couldn't deny feeling a bit worried…but Alex was capable of protecting himself if the need arose. Besides, if he found trouble, she certainly would have heard it over the silence that gripped the underground city.

…Right?

"_Well…I'm sure he's alright, wherever he is…" _she assured herself, lying her head back down as she closed her eyes again. _"I just hope he comes back soon."_

She laughed softly to herself at the thought. _"Ha…listen to me, worrying about him like I'm his mother…why, I'm sure he's on his way back right now."_

Her thoughts turned to when he had unexpectedly stormed out of the building, and her happy feeling went away as quickly as it had come.

"…_I just wish I knew what was bothering him."_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard bootsteps outside, coming her way alongside the familiar sound of his rustling armor plates.

"_Hmph…sometimes, I surprise even myself,"_ she thought, as she twisted around from her laying position on the ground to watch him come in.

There he was, standing in the dark shadow of the door, watching her as if he were reluctant to come in.

He was likely still feeling a bit put-off, so she decided to take a carefully neutral tone.

"…_Alex? What did you find?"_

The shadow stood there for a moment longer, before stepping forward into the increasingly dim aura of light from the fire.

She realized, at that one, single, _horrible_ moment, that it wasn't Alex.

"What did I find…?" a coarse, gravelly voice echoed from inside the figure's fully encasing helmet.

She stood up quickly and let slip a growl as she fell into a fighting stance against the intruder.

The figure brought his right arm up, revealing a massive scythe covered in blood red runes and edged with pure sharpened obsidian.

"…A new pelt to add to my collection."

* * *

><p>Across the city, within the shogun, deep down within the ancient depths of the Takeda Clan's sacred chamber, in front of the Moon Tribe's warp gate, Alex suddenly heard a pained yelp before it was cut silent.<p>

"Oh no…AMMY!"

* * *

><p><strong>You know, thinking about it, I should really get a DeviantArt account, if for no other reason than to keep journal updates on (because I suck HORRIBLY at art).<strong>

**(Rate, review, and I'll see you next time)**


	34. When Shadows Turn Against Us

**Big news, everyone! I just got a dA account!**

***Dives for cover under a hailstorm of boos and thrown rocks***

**YES, YES, I KNOW I'M A LITTLE LATE WITH MAKING ONE, DEAL WITH IT.**

**The link is on my profile now. Check it out if you've got time, cause I'll at least be doing journal entries on it! Also, I've got another OC picture up, this time for Kurenai! Check it out also!**

**(MATURE LANGUAGE ALERT: Read at your own risk)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 32: When Shadows Turn Against Us<strong>

"_Ammy! Are you there? Can you hear me?"_

Nothing. Either he was out of range of her telepathy…or something worse had happened.

"_Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" _he thought in a panicked rush. _"She's not answering me! What the hell happened to her? !"_

"_That which was destroyed shall be made whole once more…" _Amunae whispered from the back of his mind, appearing to pay no attention to the young man's panic.

"_This is no time for your goddamn riddles and proverbs, Amunae! Ammy's in trouble! We gotta save her!" _Alex mentally shouted at the kitsune, before said fox raised a paw and silenced him.

"_Patience, young one," _he stated simply, appearing totally unfazed.

"_PATIENCE? ! Are you KIDDING ME? ! We can't afford to just sit here and twiddle our goddamn thumbs! If we don't get moving - !"_

"_If she was dead, I would have felt the repercussions stretching far and wide across Nippon…" _Amunae remarked calmly, his nine tails idly twitching in the mental image he was linked to Alex's mind with. "_No, my senses tell me that something else…something far more sinister…is here in Idaina-yosai. Something that wants her _alive."

"_W-what? How can you tell? !"_

There was a low growl, as Amunae bared his razor sharp teeth slightly.

"_I can smell it on the air. A foul presence that I have not felt for a century and more has entered this sacred ground."_

"_Huh? …What is it?"_

The fox was silent for a moment.

"_That which was destroyed shall be made whole once more…"_ he eventually repeated. _"Such is the way of things…"_

"_What?"_

"_They have finally come for us, Alexander. They have come for the Sword-Wielder."_

"_What? !" _Alex repeated in a higher tone._ "What're you talking about? WHO'S come for us? !"_

"_Listen carefully, young one, for we do not have much time to spare,"_ Amunae spoke quickly, apparently ignoring Alex's flurry of questions. _"Along the back wall, there is a loose stone somewhere. Find it."_

"_Wha-?"_

"_Just do it, young one! Hurry!" _Amunae exclaimed.

"_Ok, ok! But this better be something that can help Ammy!" _Alex retorted, moving around the Moon Tribe warp gate to the far back wall of the square-shaped chamber and examining it. With Amunae pointing him in the right direction, it wasn't long before Alex found the particular stone that the kitsune was speaking of, and throwing caution to the wind, Alex immediately pressed it in without asking any questions first.

Like the hidden knob on the mural upstairs, the stone yielded under pressure, and another heavy mechanism let off a loud _THUD_ as it activated, followed by stone grinding against stone as a tiny section of the wall to his right suddenly slid inwards and to the side…revealing a passage just big enough for a single-file line of people to walk through.

"_Huh?" _he thought confusedly, before it quickly dawned on him. _"Wait…is this is that secret passage Raikoh's father was talking about in that first vision I had? The one he said led to a 'Horsetail Falls' or something?"_

"_Indeed it is, young one…and now, you must come to a decision," _Amunae said mysteriously.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Before you lies the means to your escape. They have not yet found us…which means that if you choose to run, you will almost certainly get away before they decide to come looking for you," _the fox explained.

"_W-what? ! But what about Ammy? !" _Alex protested, before Amunae silenced him.

"_Let me explain, Alexander. The choice to run is certainly available to you…but there is another path you may take on this road that has been presented to you."_

"_Well stop speaking in riddles and TELL ME, goddammit!" _Alex snapped. _"We don't have all day here!"_

"_You could choose instead to rescue her and-"_

"_That's what I choose! Now stop talking and help m-!"_

"_BE SILENT!" _Amunae suddenly shouted, and Alex immediately shut his mouth in shock over the kitsune's sudden burst of anger.

Hearing the fox take a deep breath to calm himself, Alex waited until Amunae was ready to continue.

"_You must consider the consequences of such an action, Alexander,"_ Amunae said at length. _"Either choice you make will affect the outcome of today's events dramatically, as well as Amaterasu's fate. If you decide to leave this place while you have the chance, you ensure that at least one of you lives to fight another day for the safety of all Nippon. But if you decide to stay and attempt to rescue the goddess, there is a slim chance that you will succeed…and a much greater chance that you will die trying, dooming Amaterasu…and Nippon with her…to _death."

As much was he didn't want to listen at the moment, the words rang truth in Alex's mind as he stood before the entrance to the small, dark passage ahead of him.

"_You must come to a decision now, young one. Will you flee now? Or will you risk all of Nippon to save a single life?"_ Amunae said, delivering the ultimatum he was getting at.

Alex could feel the weight of anxiety beginning to press down on his shoulders as he considered the decision, looking down towards the ground as a profound look of indecision came over his face.

Save himself? Or risk dooming Nippon to destruction, or worse, all to save Ammy from whoever or _whatever_ had come for them?

In the back of his mind, he knew that he couldn't afford to make a snap decision. It was finally beginning to dawn on him just _how much_ was riding on this…not just with him and Ammy, but the entire legacy of the Takeda Clan, of everything they had left behind for _someone_ to find.

He was just an ordinary guy, who had had an extraordinary sword shoved into his hands without him knowing it. He knew had no right to make a decision on something this big, with such massive, potential consequences for either choice…but at the same time, he knew that he was the _only_ one here who could.

How could he possibly decide?

_This here wolf isn't just any ordinary canine! She's _the_ great Amaterasu, bona-fide Goddess of the Sun!_

Alex looked back up from the ground, as the memory of Issun suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The poncle had definitely summed it up with that statement. Ammy had proven just how great she really was with her amazing powers, fighting ability, and kind and caring personality.

Not only that, but…she had saved his life so many times now, risking her own well-being to ensure that he survived all of the trials they had faced together so far…

But he knew Amunae wouldn't buy that…the fox was kooky at times, but he was also practical, and Alex realized that a practical reason to go back for Ammy was the only thing that would convince the fox to accept that decision.

He racked his brain, hoping for _something_ he could use, going over _everything _ that he knew and heard about her in order to make a good enough reason to go back.

"_Please…something…_anything_…"_

Suddenly, he had it.

"_She's more important, Amunae,"_ he quickly spoke up.

"_Hmm?"_

"_It's more important that _she_ survives, rather than _me._ From what I've gathered, Ammy's fought more demons and helped more people than I EVER could. I might not know everything about her, but I know enough that she's the strongest fighter here…she's saved the world once, and she can do it again!"_

The fox remained silent.

"_Think about it, Amunae! You must have heard all the same things I did about her! If only half of the things we've heard are true, she's the best chance Nippon has against all these demons and this crazy CULT that keeps popping up! She's more important than ME, she's more important than YOU, and she's more important than ANYTHING ELSE! Besides that, I'm just one guy! I can't do the same stuff she can, even with you helping me!"_

More silence.

"_Come on, Amunae! I'm right and you know it! The faster you get that through your thick skull, the faster we can get to saving her!"_ Alex yelled, almost pleadingly.

More silence…and then…

"_We have neither moonlight, nor demon blood on hand to activate Aku-Hametsu's powers, young one…therefore, I would advise a stealthy approach, as direct combat is out of the question,"_ the fox slowly spoke.

"…_Alright…thank you, Amunae,"_ Alex whispered.

"_Make haste. Time is of the essence,"_ the kitsune replied.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure he's going to come after her?"<p>

She heard the hushed, whispering voice, but couldn't see the one speaking with it…her whole body hurt, and her vision had gone blurry from a splitting pain in her head. She was still vaguely aware of the things around her, but could only lie there on the floor in her daze as she awoke from her previously unconscious state at an agonizingly slow pace.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask the commander?" a second voice responded.

"And risk my neck like that? You must be joking!" the first voice retorted. "Have you forgotten what happened to the _last_ man that questioned his orders?"

"Yes," the second voice replied simply. "It took me an _hour_ to clean the blood off my armor."

"_Exactly_ my point. If he's not in the right mood, asking him such things is a death sentence! I'd much rather keep my head ON my shoulders, thank you very much!"

"Then stop whining and keep watch!" the second voice snapped irritably.

Blinking several times, Amaterasu tried to shake off the disorientation and forced her vision to refocus as much as she could manage, causing the blur in her eyesight to sharpen up and giving her a better view of where she was.

She could remember…a stranger of sorts, some kind of man wearing black armor and carrying a _giant_ scythe.

She could also remember when he suddenly lunged at her, faster than she could anticipate…and pain exploding throughout her body moments before she blacked out.

Her vision finally cleared up enough that she could see where she was, and it didn't take her long to realize that she was still inside the house that she and Alex had occupied, on the second floor by the looks of it: she could see the top of the old wooden staircase that they had spotted upon first coming in, situated in the far corner.

She could also see the two figures in the room with her…one pacing about slowly while the other sat by the window and stared out of it with his masked, emotionless gaze. They were both dressed in black-dyed, form-fitting leather armor – no doubt for maximum mobility – and wore thick cloaks of the same color, the hoods pulled up and obscuring their faces alongside skull-faced masks crafted out of some form of light material.

The skull-face designs on their masks were exactly like the ones that the heavily armored soldiers in Kusa Village had worn…as well as the dark obsidian swords that were strapped to their backs. That meant that the red samurai and these black assassin-soldier types were both part of the same group.

Exactly which group that was had yet to be discovered.

She immediately moved to try and stand up, but felt resistance against her limbs. Looking down at herself, she could see that all four of her paws had been tied together with a single length of tightly wound rope.

She was hog-tied in the corner of the upstairs room, with these two strange men guarding her…and apparently, they were lying in wait for Alex.

"_Whoever these men are, I can't let them catch Alex as well, or neither of us will escape from here!" _she thought hurriedly to herself, trying to quickly formulate a plan of action in her mind as she lay there. Fortunately, the two men guarding her didn't seem to notice her movements, so she went unopposed as she lifted her tail and tried to call back the ink powers that _still_ hadn't returned to her.

They were almost back…she could feel them roiling about, nearly ready to spring forth again. But it wasn't enough to bring back her divine instruments, or she would have been up and out the door already. She would have to settle for a weaker effect like what she had done with the spark of fire for Alex...but with a rope like the one tying her down, she didn't know how many attempts it would take.

Faking a continued state of unconsciousness, she waited until the pacing assassin turned his back and looked out the window with his companion before lifting her tail and straining until she had produced a drop of ink similar to the one used to create the spark. With a quick and silent flick of her tail, she slashed a tiny black line across the bindings holding her, taking a minor satisfaction in the quiet _shwick_ she heard as the rope suddenly frayed a bit.

Not enough to break out of it, but it was a start. Taking a quick breather as she waited for her strength to recover, she laid her head back down and closed her eyes as she resumed her fake unconsciousness.

"Where in the Land of Darkness IS he?" the pacing one spoke up impatiently, his hands near the knife at his belt and twitching with anticipation.

"He'll come…just you wait," the second one hissed quietly.

"Does he not care for his…er…_companion's_ safety?"

"If he does, then he'll come right to us. If he doesn't…well…you can figure out the rest."

The pacing one chuckled. "Looks like the commander might just get that wolf pelt he's been looking for, then."

Amaterasu shivered at the sinister tone of voice that the soldier-assassin took. The sooner she got out of here, the better.

"_Just cut the ropes and make a run for it…if Alex is still out there, you can find him easily,"_ she told herself, waiting until the coast was clear before quickly slashing another line of ink across the rope, fraying it some more and causing one of the many loops to split apart.

Her gaze fell upon the wrist guard that Alex had used for the splint on her damaged right foreleg, and she found herself wishing that he was here with her again…

"_I promise, Alex…if we escape this place alive, I promise to never put you through something like this again…"_

_Shwick._ Another strand came off, and she could feel the bindings loosen just a bit.

"_Please…let me reach him in time."_

_Shwick._

* * *

><p>Exiting out into the shogun's courtyard, Alex broke into as fast a run as he could manage with his bum leg, quickly sliding in between the alleyways of the buildings as he made his way back to the house that he had left Ammy in. If she was still alive like Amuane had said, that was the first place he would check.<p>

He just prayed that he would reach her in time.

"_Come on leg, work with me here!" _he mentally yelled at himself, huffing and puffing as he ran down the stone brick pathways and skirted through another alleyway, drawing closer and closer to the house they had occupied.

"_That is close enough! Stop here!" _Amunae spoke up, and Alex slid to a stop against the corner of one of the buildings down the way from the house in question.

The light from the fire was growing dim, but he could still see it in the darkness as he dismissed his rosary to reduce the chance of being spotted by whoever was in the underground city with them.

"_That's it down there…ok now…" _Alex thought, searching for guards outside the house and spotting none. _"I don't see anyone outside."_

"_They have left the way open for us…very clearly, a trap,"_ the kitsune mused.

"_Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking…"_ Alex agreed. _"Question is, how to we get inside without being…oh, wait! I know!"_

Reaching up to his shoulder, he felt around for the Spidersilk Cloak that should have been there…before he suddenly remembered that it _wasn't._

"_Oh, SON OF A-! I left it inside the house! Oh that's just freaking PERFECT!" _he mentally ranted, berating himself.

"_Calm down, Alexander. There is more than one way inside a guarded building…"_ Amunae said.

"_Oh yeah? Care to share?" _Alex asked sarcastically, not even caring that he had unintentionally rhymed his words.

"_There may be no guards outside, but there are almost certainly some _inside_…and if that is true, then how about we attempt to bring them _outside?"

"_That…could work," _Alex acquiesced. _"But we're gonna need some kind of distraction to -"_

Alex suddenly became aware of the glass window panes still set in place along the house's upper floor, the shutters open and leaving them exposed to "outside influences".

"…_Maybe I can chuck something through the window. THAT would get their attention fast!"_

Even with the partially dilapidated state of the buildings around them, however, Alex couldn't find anything to use as ammo…at least, until his hand went to the pouch at his waist and felt a familiar shape. Reaching in, he pulled out the perfectly smooth spirit globe that had found its way to him seemingly ages ago, once glowing brightly but now dull and grey again from its surprising effect during the fight with Crimson Helm.

A shield of bright blue fire…man, what he wouldn't give for that right now.

"_It's the only real 'throwable' thing I've got…but is it worth it, to risk losing it like that?"_

Even though it was inactive, the spirit globe was still _technically_ his only possible ticket back home, and he had taken care to make sure it was always kept on his person up to this point. Losing it could possibly mean losing his only chance to get back to his old life…as crappy as it had been.

Then his thoughts turned to Ammy…and all the horrid predicaments she could possibly be in at this very moment.

"_Yes. For Ammy, it's worth it,"_ he thought determinedly, tossing the item in question to himself and making his approach towards the house, sticking to the shadows as much as possible.

* * *

><p><em>Shwick.<em>

"_Almost there…just a few more cuts and it should be loose enough for me to break," _she thought, her blood racing as she drew close to the moment of truth.

"How long did Commander Kurenai tell us to wait?" the pacing soldier-assassin asked the other, prompting her to lower her head and lie still.

"Don't know. Until he loses patience, I guess."

"And how long do you think THAT will be?"

"Well, if I know the commander…not that much longer to go," the one sitting at the window chuckled. "If the doesn't show up, be sure to cover yourself when Kurenai comes back in…it's gonna be a bloodbath."

"Hmph," the pacing one said, likely with an amused smirk to go along with it under his mask. "And then what?"

"Then…we hunt him down. Commander's orders, you know."

"Now _those_ are orders I can follow," the pacing soldier-assassin remarked.

"You and me both," the one sitting at the window replied, still staring out the window as he nonchalantly raised his fist up and bumped it against the pacing one's without looking.

"_I have to get out of here, now!"_ Amaterasu thought hurriedly. _"The longer I take, the more danger me and Alex are BOTH in!"_

"Wait, hang on…" the soldier-assassin at the window suddenly said, drawing the wolf's attention as he stood up and stared hard in one direction. "I think I see something out there."

"Really? Where?" the other asked, anticipation in his voice as he went up next to the man.

"There, you see it? I think something's moving right there! Might be him."

"_No! Alex!" _Ammy mentally gasped. _"Stay out! It's a trap! They'll -!"_

Suddenly, there was a loud _'CRASH!'_, followed by an "OOF!" as the window subsequently exploded inward, showering glass on the two men. The one who had been pacing around fell backwards much more forcefully than Ammy anticipated, hitting the ground with a heavy _whumph_ as something glinting in the dim light deflected off the mask on his face, both it and whatever had hit the man clattering to the floor and sliding away against the far wall.

Seeing it roll past her, Ammy suddenly realized that it was the spirit globe Alex had obtained and inadvertently claimed for himself.

"_What! _Who…? !" the still-standing assassin stammered, jumping back to the window and leaning out of it as he tried to spot where the projectile had originated from. Pulling his head back in, he turned to the prone assassin on the ground and the shiny glass orb that was still resting against the wall. Moving past his comatose comrade, the assassin-soldier picked up the orb, examining it for a few seconds before quickly shoving it into a pouch at his side and moving to get his friend up.

"Get up you idiot! He's here! Start moving!"

"Ughhh…could someone stop the ride please? I'd like to get off…" the comatose assassin groaned.

"Bah! Useless!" the other one berated him, standing and drawing out his sword as he turned and made for the stairs, no doubt to hunt the young man down himself.

Spotting her chance, Ammy sliced another tiny power slash across the ropes and began to struggle around in her attempts to break the bindings and get free. Alex – for it was undoubtedly Alex – had given her this chance, and she wasn't going to waste it.

* * *

><p>"<em>It worked! Look, here comes one of them now!" <em>Alex thought excitedly as he saw the assassin-soldier exit the building and take a quick look around before heading off to the spot a ways away, where Alex had thrown the spirit globe before quickly relocating to a new position.

"_Then now is your chance, young one! Quickly, now!"_

"_Don't need to tell me twice!"_ Alex responded, making sure that the assassin was out of sight before lightly stepping across the street in a half-crouch.

"_Hang on, Ammy…I'm almost there…" _he thought, as he entered the main room and, after making sure it was clear, quickly began searching for his cloak.

It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't where he left it.

"_Huh? W-where'd it go? ! I could swear I left it piled right here in front of the fire!" _he thought, a confused scowl on his face. _"Shit. Someone must have taken it!"_

He might have been a little more worried about such a development, had he not heard a struggle suddenly break out upstairs.

* * *

><p>"<em>Errgh! Just…a little…more…YES!" <em>she triumphantly gasped, as one of her paws slipped free from the bindings, giving her the leverage to quickly start freeing the others.

That was before the soldier-assassin suddenly sat up, recovered from the hit he had taken, and stared straight at her.

For a second, neither of them moved.

Then everything exploded into motion. Ammy worked to get her paws free as she quickly moved to stand up, even as the assassin-soldier moved to draw his knife and do the same.

It came down to a split-second, but Ammy proved to be _just barely _faster, lunging forward with her teeth bared in a ferocious snarl, as the assassin-raised his free hand in defense, his now-visible eyes surprisingly showing not a single trace of fear.

Her powerful jaws clamped down on leather bracer of his upraised arm, and he let off a pained shout as a vicious melee ensued, Amaterasu using wolf fighting tactics to try and pull him to the ground, while the knife in his other hand flashed as he struck with it again and again. The weapon continuously missed her by mere inches each time, as she went with the flow of their combined momentum to repeatedly yank him off-balance.

"Get off me you mangy mutt!" the soldier-assassin yelled angrily, attempting another stab before a sudden _'shink!'_ split the air.

"OW! YOU LITTLE-!" he cursed, the dagger falling from his hand as Ammy's severely weakened power slash still proved just enough to inflict a crippling wound on his wrist. With the man now distracted by his falling knife, she saw her opportunity to lunge forward and bowl him over, landing on his chest and releasing his wrist in favor of attempting a powerful bite at his throat, now within reach.

"_Gah!_ You…stinking…_creature!"_ he snarled, throwing a reflexive punch and catching her right on the corner of her mouth. Her vision jolted as the powerful blow knocked her off balance, but the absolutely furious wolf goddess would not be deterred. Lunging forward, the bite that would have finished him was just barely stopped by his strong grip, his gloved hands clamping down as hard as they could around her open muzzle and exposed teeth, as he desperately tried to fight the angry canine off.

Desperation was beginning to show in his eyes, and sensing victory, Amaterasu pressed forward, more than ready to finish this battle and find Alex. The assassin, in the meantime, released his grip with one hand, and desperately began to grab around next to him, trying to find something, _anything_ that he could use to fend off the wolf.

His hand closed around one of the sharp pieces of glass that littered the floor…and he wasted no time in striking out with it, aiming right for her face.

She saw it coming just in the nick of time, and did the first thing that came to mind: she raised her damaged limb, and the shard of glass deflected off of Alex's _wrist guard splint_ of all things. The glass shard broke apart under the weight of the hit, but the blow was still heavy enough to cause a spike of pain in her damaged limb.

Though he had inflicted no actual harm, the assassin-soldier's desperate maneuver gave him the opportunity to bring his knee up beneath her and jam it into her gut, raising her up and allowing him to immediately redirect the limb to kick her off, sending the wolf against the wall behind her with enough force to drive the wind out of her and stun her for just a moment.

Long enough for the assassin-soldier to jump up, draw his sword, and point the tip of the jagged blade at her throat.

"DIE, BEAST!" he shouted, lunging forward.

_CRACK!_

He suddenly stiffened, the blade falling from his grasp, before he collapsed in a heap…at the feet of Alex, the young man wielding the same table leg he had used to stoke the fire downstairs.

"Nighty-night, asshole," he spat, tossing aside the impromptu club.

"_ALEX!"_ she cried out.

"Heh...hey, Ammy…" he wheezed, doubling over with his hands on his knees, clearly out of breath from what could only have been an extended sprint all the way here. "You…*pant*…ok? He didn't…*wheeze*…hurt you?"

The rather surprising answer came when she suddenly leaped up to him and wrapped a paw around his neck in the best hug she could manage, dragging him down to her level and forcing him into a crouch.

"Oh…*pant*…guess that's a yes…" he breathed heavily, honestly too out of breath to care.

"_I was so worried about you…those men…they were going to kill you, and I…I just couldn't them…!"_ she stammered, before he gently pushed her off and stared her in the eye.

"Hey, _hey…_take it easy. I'm still breathing, right?" he responded, an odd sort of smirk finding its way onto his face.

"_Not for long, you won't,"_ a sinister voice growled from behind him.

In a flash, Alex pushed Ammy out of the way and spun around, using his momentum to launch a surprise punch at what he expected to be the second soldier-assassin.

He found _himself_ surprised when his fist was suddenly caught by an upraised hand, its owner clearly anticipating the maneuver.

"Oh really, now?" the gravelly voice growled, as Alex slowly looked up from his trapped fist to the face of the man standing before him…and saw nothing but shadows obscuring his form.

"Oh _shi-"_ was all he could get out, before the figure leaned back and slammed his helmeted forehead into his, causing stars to explode in his vision as his legs turned to jelly and his helmet went flying off of his head to clatter off somewhere.

"_ALEX!"_ he heard Ammy shout from somewhere distant, before the dark figure picked him up with inhuman strength and threw his limp body across the room at the wolf, in mid-lunge towards them.

Unable to change her direction, Ammy was hit in midair by the young man's armored body, and both of them went flying backwards, hitting one of the large, ancient dressers in the room with brutalizing force and causing the whole thing to come down on top of them in a heavy pile of dust, debris, and wooden planking.

The last thing Alex saw before losing consciousness was the dark figure slowly striding towards them, removing what looked like some kind of dark cloak from around his neck and tossing it to one of the soldier-assassins that had appeared in the room with him.

The last thing he felt was Ammy squirming beneath him, trying to escape out from under him so she could get between him and the dark figure…but the weight of his armored body was holding her down.

The last thing he heard was a gravelly, confident, absolutely sinister and evil chuckle, as the dark figure closed in for the kill.

* * *

><p>When he finally started coming to, the first thing he felt was a splitting pain in his forehead, comparable to a migraine headache.<p>

After a brief moment grimacing in pain over this, the second thing he felt was his feet dragging across the ground behind him, as he realized that he was being carried by the arms by two individuals on either side of him.

Survival instinct kicked in, and he tried to work his arms free before a sudden sharp kick to his ribcage put an end to THAT. Reflexively bending over as best he could in his hanging position, coughing violently, his vision slowly cleared up as the rudely stinging pain in his side brought a sudden clarity to his mind.

"_Ok…that hurt…!"_ he mentally gasped out. _"Oh man…oh _shit_…what's going on? Who are these guys?"_

The only possible answer he received was a repeating _scrape, scrape, scrape._

"That's close enough," someone spoke from ahead of him, in the same gravelly voice he had heard earlier. "Leave him there."

He was roughly dropped to the ground, the two men moving away from him.

He continued to lay there for a second, holding a hand to his now-bruised torso, refusing to look up. All that he heard was the continuous scraping sound that sounded like a rock being dragged over metal.

"Well? I don't have all day, boy," the voice spoke up.

Letting out a small grunt, his air coming in heavy gasps as each breath brought pain to the new injury in his side, Alex clutched at the affected spot with one hand as he struggled to prop himself up on the other.

Finally looking up, Alex noticed that he was somewhere outside the house now, in some kind of spacious circular courtyard surrounded by houses on all angles. There was a simple-looking fountain placed here, the water having apparently run dry despite the close proximity of the river, judging from the volume of the flowing water nearby. All in all, it was once just a simple crossroad for the Takeda that once lived here.

It lost said simplicity when Alex suddenly realized who was here with him.

He was completely surrounded. There were at least a dozen – if not more – of the soldier-assassins in the courtyard with him, formed into a widely spaced circle of a perimeter…and those were just the ones that he could see. Beyond the short distance he could see in the light of the torches that several of them were carrying, Alex had no idea just how many more of them were lurking around.

As his gaze panned around and settled directly in front of himself, Alex's eyes suddenly widened as they fell upon the most vicious looking weapon he had ever seen: a massive scythe, the curved blade nearly as big as a grown man's leg, edged with the all-too-familiar black stone and covered with blood-red runes of an unknown meaning upon the wide flat section.

Gulping, his eyes trailed down the blackened haft of the weapon, and he got his first good look at the weapon's owner, sitting on the fountain's stone barrier as he dragged a whetstone down the length of the scythe.

"Like what you see?" the man chuckled, drawing a rolling laugh from the small crowd of assassins around them. "I'm not surprised."

Whoever this guy was, he looked _MEAN._ Aside from the deadly weapon clutched in his grasp, the man was almost completely armored head to toe: Blackened plates, crafted to be both lightweight and as form-fitting as possible, covered his shoulders, torso, and legs, along with heavy gauntlets on his hands and the three-pieced metal plate "skirt" piece around his waist, reaching down to his knees. The only parts of him that the plates left exposed were his upper arms and legs…these places were instead covered by a fine layer of chainmail, undoubtedly to allow for maximum flexibility and agility in the limbs. Not surprising, considering his obvious weapon of choice.

Atop his head, however, the helmet was a bit different than what Alex had seen before. Instead of being either open-faced or sporting a faceplate of some kind, the man's helmet had instead been crafted to encase his _entire head_, allowing it to flow seamlessly into the chest plate below and give the armor a more "complete" look. The helmet was adorned with a sharpened spike of metal on the top-front, curving backwards and giving the piece of apparel a "horned" look. More spikes swept out from the top-back of the helmet, making the whole piece look more streamlined than an average helmet.

What caught Alex's attention, however, were the eyeholes. There were _four_ of them, and each one glowed with the same blood red light as the runes on his scythe.

It made him look…_demonic._ And scary as _hell._ But it also left Alex wondering how the man, who was very clearly the man who had ambushed him, managed to sneak up behind him without noticing.

As if he somehow knew what Alex was thinking, the man reached down to something lying at his feet and brought it up into the torchlight…the Spidersilk Cloak.

"I was surprised to see you had this…" he stated, examining the garment. "Spidersilk crafting is an art that was forgotten centuries ago. And yet, this looks almost brand new!"

"_Huh? Where did he hear _that_ from?"_

"But I was even MORE surprised when I found _this_ on you," the man continued, grabbing another thing off the ground and holding it up.

Aku-Hametsu, still in its sheath.

Even though the proof was right in front of him, Alex reached back over his shoulder to check…and found nothing.

"Of course, I had to take it…we wouldn't want you causing any trouble for my men, now would we? That, and I was looking for a new trophy to set over my mantle," the man admitted, shrugging with a humorous air.

The sight of the sword suddenly reminded him of something, and faking a heavy breath, Alex leaned his head back down and checked his left wrist.

It was still there. This creep had only taken his sword and cloak…he didn't know about his rosary.

"Who…the hell…are you? !" he spat out, lifting his head back up.

"Oh, that's right. Where are my manners?" the sinister man chuckled, setting Aku-Hametsu against the side of the fountain and standing up, hooking his scythe over his back where it seemed to anchor by pure force of will. "Around my homeland, I'm known as The Crimson Scourge, the Bleeding Shadow, the Reaper of the Night, the Lord of Assassin's…but you can call me Kurenai, of the Black Hand."

"_Black Hand? Again, with that name!" _Alex thought.

"Don't bother remembering it, though, because I doubt you'll be alive long enough for it to matter," the man called Kurenai finished.

"Then skip the bullshit! Where's Amaterasu? !"

"Amaterasu…?" Kurenai repeated, staring upwards as he thoughtfully tapped a finger against the spot on his helmet where his chin would be.

"Hmm…Amaterasu…_oh_, you mean _this_ Amaterasu?" he sneered, making a motion with his hand to beckon over one of his men.

Alex could only watch as the soldier-assassin came forward and threw the wolf goddess into the ring with them, her limp form tumbling roughly across the ground before she came to a stop between him and Kurenai with only a soft _thump_.

"Ammy!" he yelled in surprise, his voice dying in his throat when he saw her.

Her entire body was covered in bloody gashes, staining a great deal of her white fur red, and her entire body was shaking uncontrollably from the pain.

It was a sight horrid enough to chill Alex's blood and make his heart stop.

"Ammy…_oh no_…come on Ammy! Come on, _talk to me!"_ he gasped out, crawling on his hands and knees towards her.

Her amber eyes turned towards him, and she stared him dead in the eye as he leaned over her.

"_Alex…" _she whispered weakly, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"No! Ammy, don't pass out! Come on, _stay with me, dammit!"_ he pleaded, grabbing her head and lifting it up in his arms.

"_Alex…I'm…so…sorry…"_

"HA!" Kurenai's barking laugh sliced through the air. "How delightfully tragic! The touching moment between two close friends, before their inevitable doom!"

Alex squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold himself together as he cradled the wolf in his arms.

"_No…"_

She didn't deserve this.

She didn't deserve _any_ of this.

She had only been trying to help him this whole time, and now she was lying on the ground half dead!

"_Ammy…please…don't die…"_ he pleaded with her. _"Please…stay with me…"_

No response.

"_I can't do this alone, Ammy."_

No response.

"_I can't do this without you!"_

No response.

"_Ammy! Please! AMMY!" _he begged, feeling the tears starting to form in his eyes.

_Still_ no response.

An anguished sob escaped him as he bent over her limp, but still-breathing body, his left hand clenched into a fist so tight, it would have drawn blood had it not been covered with his gauntlet.

Kurenai watched impassively from where he stood, moving only to reach back over his shoulder and retrieve his scythe.

"You _bastards…"_

Alex's deathly low growl was heard by every single person there, even though his head was hanging low over Ammy.

"You…_fucking_…_BASTARDS!"_ Alex yelled, his bellowing shout so loud that seemed to echo for minutes on end throughout the giant cavern. "WHAT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT, HUH? ! WHAT GIVES YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT? !"

Kurenai's head tilted slightly, as though he were slightly intrigued by the young man's words.

"_What gives you the right to just come here and start killing people, HUH? ! What gives you the right to inflict so much pain on people who don't deserve it? !"_ Alex continued to yell, not even caring how loud he was being.

At that moment, all of his pent-up stress, anger, and other emotions were all coming out in a solid stream, the young man having finally cracked wide open and all of his fury spilling out.

"_It's people like you that make the whole fucking world so terrible, sometimes! It's people like you that-!"_

_SMACK!_

Alex only felt the sting of the hit a few seconds after it had landed, but it was enough to suddenly make him shut up out of pure shock and surprise.

Kurenai was standing in front of him…and it took Alex a moment to realize that the man had stepped up in front of him and backhanded him across the face.

"What give ME the right…?" Kurenai growled in such a deathly low voice that, even after his emotional discharge, Alex couldn't help but gulp.

"What gives ME THE RIGHT? !" Kurenai bellowed suddenly, grabbing Alex by the throat and heaving him up into the air, leaving his feet dangling a foot off the ground. "I'll tell you what gives me the right. What gives me the right is the fact that the Takeda Clan, who's sword you wield, _destroyed_ my own clan centuries ago! DECIMATED them! Sent them into hiding as only a shell of the former people they once were! Your predecessors nearly wiped us from the face of Nippon, forcing us into the Land of Darkness where we have to struggle for survival EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES! And you DARE question what gives us the RIGHT? !"

The furious man's iron grip tightened as Alex choked for air and struggled to break the man's hold…

…while Ammy below seemed to realize the danger he was in, and began attempting to get on her feet.

Pain lanced through every inch of her body…but she wasn't about to lie down and die, _especially_ when one of her best friends was in danger!

Suddenly, the sound of two swords being drawn split the air, and Alex felt Kurenai suddenly stiffen.

_Whumph!_

Alex was promptly dropped to the ground, and immediately sucked in a dry-sounding breath of air as he choked and gagged from his irritated throat.

"_Traitors…!"_ he suddenly heard Kurenai gasp out, as if the word was sacrilege in the man's vocabulary.

Looking up, Alex could see that two of Kurenai's assassin-soldiers had drawn their weapons, and were both pointing them straight at his back.

Not only that, but a third one was coming forward as well…and as Kurenai turned to look over his shoulder, every other person watched as the third assassin reached up to pull his hood back, removing his mask at the same time.

"I prefer the term 'double agent', _mon ami,"_ the blonde-haired man spoke in an unmistakably French voice.

"_Jesus Christ…"_Alex mentally gasped. _"WAKA?"_

* * *

><p><strong>THE FRUIT BASKET RETURNS! *shot dead*<strong>

**Well things are heating up again (finally) so I'll leave you with this little cliffhanger while I sit back and *shot again* OK, OK, I'LL GET THE NEXT CHAPTER IN EARLY IF SH*T DOESN'T GO WRONG FOR ME, GOSH.**

**And again, be sure to check out me profile for the new DeviantArt account link, as well as the new OC picture!**

**Rate, review, and I'll see you next time.**


	35. The Right to Survive

**(Well, it's not early, but at least it's not late)**

**Hello everyone, and welcome back. Today is the day you've all been waiting for: The closing chapter to Act 3 of Steel in the Moonlight! As usual, I saved some of my favorite music for this part, so be sure to look them all up on Youtube and listen along! I can guarantee the quality of the music, don't worry.**

**And on the subject of music, the first song I used here (Evengelion 2.0 OST- Fate) has a one minute version and a three minute version on youtube. For this, you'll want the three minute version.**

**And with that out of the way, let's go!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 33: The Right to Survive<strong>

"_Holy shit! It's really him!"_ Alex thought incredulously. Out of practically nowhere, the Fruit Basket _himself _had shown up to save them. It was almost unbelievable how the blonde-haired Frenchman managed to stay disguised for however long he was, unless he was some kind of super-actor.

"And who in the Land of Darkness might YOU be?" Kurenai snapped from over his shoulder, the armored leader assassin still being held at sword point by Waka's two mysterious companions.

"_Je suis_ Ushiwaka, or merely Waka if you prefer, _mon ami,"_ the Frenchman declared with his usual swagger. "And you are the one known as _Kurenai,_ if my ears have not mistaken me, _non?_ You seem to have amassed quite a few titles, judging from that impressive speech earlier!"

"Heh…yes, well, I tend to get around," Kurenai chuckled. "The question is, though, now that you are here…what exactly do you plan to _do?"_

Waka took one glance to the left and right, appearing to only now take notice of the very angry looking assassin-soldiers that had all drawn their various weapons and were now pointing them at the three individuals. Swords and bows alike were held at the ready, each of their wielders waiting on baited breath for the interlopers to make a move.

As Alex was half-expecting, the Frenchman appeared totally unfazed by the dozen and more sharpened points aiming for him and his companions.

"What do I plan to do?" Waka repeated, as if taken aback by the question. "Why, I plan to take Monsieur Alex and Madame Amaterasu out of here, if you must know."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Kurenai sneered. "My men have this area surrounded! If you so much as breathe the wrong way, you'll be perforated by swords and arrows from all sides!"

Kurenai fell silent as one of Waka's companions poked him in the back with their sword.

"Not if you are in the way, _mon ami_,"Waka spoke confidently.

"Hmph! Using _me_ as a bodyshield? !" Kurenai growled. "I think NOT!"

Faster than anyone could react, the leader assassin spun around and, with his scythe brought to bear, swung a widely arcing slash towards the two still-disguised companions of Waka.

The dark blade flashed in the torchlight and Alex tried to shout a warning, but it was far too late. No one in the world had the speed to dodge such a quick attack.

Except, perhaps, Waka's companions…for before Alex had even full registered what had happened, Kurenai, his mighty scythe in post-strike position off to his left side, had let out a surprised grunt…and the two individuals that had once been standing right behind him were now both standing on either side of Waka further back.

One had their arms crossed, looking thoroughly unamused, and the other was…giggling madly? With a _female_ voice? !

Even more surprising was how inhumanly fast they had reacted…so fast, in fact, Alex had missed it even while staring directly at the spectacle. It left him so surprised that he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things!

"_What the crap…?" _was all he could think. _"Who are those two?"_

"W-what…? !" Kurenai sputtered, appearing to be just as surprised as Alex was. "How did you-? !"

"Now then…" Waka spoke, brushing a loose bit of dust off the front of his assassin disguise. "The young man and the goddess, if you would please."

Kurenai quickly got over his confusion and growled angrily, raising the scythe up for an overhead strike and bringing it down with devastating speed right at the Frenchman.

WHAM! The scythe smashed into the ground with enough force to crack open a small fissure in the brick path below them, hard enough that Alex actually felt it way back where he was still sitting by Ammy.

"_Holy shit…!"_ he mentally gasped out, moving as if to keep his helmet from getting knocked off and realizing that he no longer had it on.

"_Oh damn…I'm gonna miss that thing, wherever it is…"_ he thought, turning his attention back to the "fight".

Once again, it seemed that Kurenai's attack had hit nothing but air and ground, as Waka had suddenly vanished and left only his two companions standing behind.

A startled sound ran through Kurenai's ranks of soldier-assassins, his men obviously just as perplexed as he was.

"I do believe you missed, _mon ami!"_ Waka's unmistakable voice called down from somewhere up high, and everyone whipped their heads up and around, almost all of them spotting the Frenchman at the same time…atop one of the building rooftops from _across_ the courtyard.

As before, it was inhumanly fast, even for the Fruit Basket…and Alex began to suspect that something was up.

"_If he could move that fast before, why didn't he do so when we were fighting in Kamiki Village or Agata Forest? He could have taken me out in no time with THAT kind of speed!"_ he thought, shaking his head before turning his attention back to Ammy behind him.

She seemed a little bit better, he realized all the sudden…he noticed her attempting to struggle back to her feet, though she was failing miserably at it. Loss of blood was weakening her limbs, and there was no doubt in the young man's mind that Ammy wouldn't last a chance if Kurenai or his men turned their attention back to them.

"_I've gotta get her out of here! But I can't leave without Aku-Hametsu!"_ he thought, turning back around and spotting the weapon still propped against the fountain's stone barrier, next to the less-important Spidersilk cloak. _"If I can just get past all these assassins in my way…!"_

It was easier said than done…there were at least six of the soldier-assassins between him and the sword, many of them having broken their circular formation when Waka and his "friends" had shown up…not to mention Waka's two "friends", still standing there in the middle of them all, appearing totally unfazed by the fact that they were outnumbered, surrounded, and still had swords and arrows aimed at their necks.

There was only a thin space between them all to the weapon across the way, and Alex knew that there was no way he'd get to Aku-Hametsu without alerting them. But at the same time, he couldn't waste the distraction Waka was providing. He had to do _something!_

So he improvised.

Giving the mental command, he brought his rosary to life and prayed that he'd be able to manipulate it as flawlessly as Amaterasu had done in the past, for just this one time when it mattered most.

"Well, aren't WE a confident one? !" Kurenai yelled, raising his voice so Waka could hear him.

"Confidence in oneself is a valuable trait to possess, I would think!" Waka called back, striking his usual jaunty pose on the edge of the roof. "The question is, seeing as you seem to have such trouble attacking me, do you possess confidence in _yourself?"_

"Why don't I come up there and _show you? !"_ Kurenai shouted back, launching into a run and leaping straight up into the air, much higher than a regular jump should have carried him.

A ki-jump. This man had the Spirit of the True Warrior…not a big surprise for Alex.

Waka simply stood there as Kurenai flew up and over the building, scythe poised for another overhead strike and a bellowing _"YAAAAAAA!"_ echoing out from under his helmet.

_SMASH!_ The scythe blasted through the ancient rooftop of the house, making a large gaping hole in the shingles around where the deadly weapon had landed. Alex could hear the loud crashing and shattering of wood and glass from within the house as the debris fell inwards and collapsed on everything inside the house below.

No sign of Waka, until…

"You missed again, mon ami."

(_Evangelion 2.0 OST – Fate_)

"…_!"_

The commander looked to his right, and there, barely five feet away from his original position, the blonde-haired Frenchman stood.

"Really, how long will you keep this up Monsieur Kurenai? You and I both know that I am the superior fighter here!" Waka claimed, using that same infuriating smile and cocky tone of voice.

"Is that a fact?" Kurenai sneered, wrenching his scythe out of the hole it had made and turning to face the Frenchman. "Well if you're so skilled, then perhaps I should stop wasting your time and get back to things that I can handle…such as your little friends, perhaps?"

"_Uh-oh…" _Alex mentally protested, even as Kurenai casually turned to face them all and shouted out, "Soldiers! Kill the interlopers, _but leave the boy to ME!"_

Every pair of eyes belonging to the soldier-assassins locked on the four out-of-place beings within the courtyard, and there was a sudden shuffling as the assassins brought their weapons to bear and slowly advanced on them all.

"_Shit, shit, SHIT…"_ Alex thought in a panic. _"It's now or never!"_

Moving before anyone else could, Alex launched his rosary across the ground underhand-style, trying his hardest to picture the long string of beads wrapping around Aku-Hametsu and pulling it back towards him.

Amazingly, it worked. The beads snapped around the width of the sword with a sudden _'fwip!'_, and Alex wasted no time in yanking the sword back as hard as he could. On the trip back, the weapon caught on one of the soldier-assassin's legs, and with a startled shout, the man had his leg pulled out from under him, sending him up into the air and down to the ground flat on his back with a heavy _whumph!_

The sheathed sword hit the palm of his hand, and Alex immediately grabbed the hilt and pulled it out with a loud '_shwing!', _holding the weapon in his right hand and a length of rosary in his left as the soldier-assassins around him collectively flinched back with their weapons in defensive positions.

The moment the weapon had hit his hand, Amunae's presence entered his mind again, his heckles raised and his tails all standing on end.

"_Traitors! Decivers! Thieves!" _came the kitsune's snarl, the fox growling loudly in obvious anger over Aku-Hametsu being manhandled by the assassin commander.

"_Not the best time, Amunae!" _Alex mentally shouted, quickly eyeing the opposition around him. _"I don't know why the hell this creep wants me alive, but I'm not sticking around to find out, and you're not making me either!"_

Quickly whipping the weapon around to fend off the assassins as he dismissed his rosary, Alex reached down and picked up Ammy's limp form around the midsection, the wolf still struggling to stand before she seemed to give up and let Alex carry her.

"Don't worry, Ammy, we're getting out of here…somehow…" he whispered to her.

"…_That…would be…nice…"_ she managed to speak, looking up at him and giving him a weak smile of reassurance.

Slowly backing up towards Waka's companions, Alex bumped into them with his back and looked over his shoulder at them at the same time they turned to look at him…and he noticed the tip of something white sticking out slightly from the shadowed depths of their hoods.

He didn't have time to look too hard at them though, because the assassins were advancing on them again, and Alex realized at that moment that his and Ammy's survival depended entirely on Waka and the two interlopers.

"Look, I don't know who you guys are, but if you have a plan to get out of here, I'd REALLY be glad to hear it right now!" he said, desperation tingeing his voice as the assassins advanced another step.

The male figure turned his head to look at the apparently female one next to him, and both nodded in unison. Raising their obsidian swords, both figures pointed them at the crowd of assassins around them…

…and dropped them to the ground.

"_Wha…?"_ Alex thought, confused for a split-second…right before he noticed that, seemingly out of nowhere, very _different_ weapons had appeared in their hands. The male one now held what looked like some kind of silvery-looking, thin-bladed _rapier_ in his right hand, and the female one was wielding what looked like a pair of straight-edged short-swords made from the same type of metal. Both sets of weapons gleamed brightly in the cavern despite the darkness that surrounded them, as if they were infused with light themselves.

It took Alex a moment to recognize the metal's appearance…and to realize that their weapons were made of _moonsteel._

He immediately remembered what Gizo had told him about the rarity of such weapons, way back when he had first met the blacksmith, and could only gape as the mysterious pair now raised their new weapons up, with full intent to actually wield them.

"My friends! I do believe it is time we put our little rescue plan into action!" Waka called down, much to Kurenai's obvious irritation as the armored assassin turned his helmet's four-eyed glare towards him.

"Over my dead body!" he shouted, bringing his scythe up and looping it around for another strike at the Frenchman, resuming their "battle" as Waka once again evaded the strike with his newfound speed.

"Shall we, my dear?" Alex heard the male figure speak in a smooth, gentlemanly voice.

"Of course, my love…" the female one responded, with a light giggle to punctuate her sentence.

"_Wait…those voices! Why do those voices sound so familiar?"_ Alex thought.

"Mister Alex, I think now would be an _excellent_ time for an expeditious retreat, wouldn't you say?" the male figure said over his shoulder.

"How? ! We're surrounded!" Alex snapped, tightening his hold on Ammy and Aku-Hametsu.

"Then we shall clear a path!" the female figure declared, striking a fighting pose with her left sword held out in front of her and the right sword parallel to her head. "Fear not! We will protect you, Alex!"

"How do you guys even KNOW me? !" Alex yelled, but his question was lost to the wind as the two figures suddenly launched themselves at the assassins, wild yells and clashing metal splitting the air alongside the heavy _whoosh_ of Kurenai's massive scythe and Waka's derisive laughter as the Frenchman continued to evade him with little to no effort.

"Stay back, Alex!" the male figure called out, his cloak flying out behind him as his rapier flashed and knocked aside one of the assassin's blades. "They want you alive, and shall not harm you so long as that fact remains true!"

Alex opened his mouth to yell a retort, but fell silent when he realized just how fast the two were moving about him. Their movements were so fluid and dexterous that _none _of the assassins could even get within reaching distance of him, much less fight them effectively…a fact only proven when the female figure caught one of the assassin's blades with her off-hand sword and immediately jammed the point of the other into his gut, piercing the leather armor and making him double over in pain, moments before she freed her off-hand sword and drove it down into his exposed spine with a surprisingly animal-like snarl.

They were fighting with a mixture of supreme grace and hidden ferocity that Alex had never seen in a fighter before…and it only brought more questions to his mind over who – or _what_ – these people were.

Meanwhile, Waka and Kurenai were still duking it out atop the nearby rooftops, the commander slicing his weapon back and forth and becoming increasingly infuriated when he couldn't hit the arrogant Frenchman.

"Hold still, damn you!" he shouted, spinning the weapon above his head and redirecting the momentum into a diagonal slice.

"I would rather not…" Waka remarked calmly, sidestepping the attack.

"HOLD STILL!" Kurenai yelled again, spinning with his weapon's momentum and angling it to slice straight upwards, to which the Frenchman simply stepped back and avoided.

"What did I just say to you, mon ami?" Waka stated with a laugh. "Are you hard of hearing as well?"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!"

Back down below, Alex stood guard over Ammy as the two figures slowly whittled down the assassins' numbers, neither one showing signs of tiring as they continually spun and looped around in what looked more like a graceful dance than an actual fight, both working in perfect unison as if they had done this before. The male figure sliced forward with the tip of his rapier, spinning the blade around his opponent's in an elaborate parry and subsequently jabbing it through the eyehole of the assassin's skull mask with amazing accuracy. The man stiffened, but didn't immediately fall, prompting the figure to slice the blade's razor-sharp tip across the assassin's body several times to finish him off.

One of the last strikes caught something at the assassin's waist, tearing it open…and a glass orb fell out of it, hitting the ground and slowly rolling away before the male figure reached down and swept it up, pondering for a moment before hiding it on his person. It happened so quickly that Alex, paying more attention to the female figure as she elaborately dispatched another of the assassins with a crossed-sword slice across his exposed throat, didn't even notice.

Before long, there were only a handful of assassins left, and both of Waka's companions immediately took the brief moment to form up around Alex and Amaterasu in protective stances.

"Now would be the time, Alex! Let us be off, while the path remains open to us!" the male figure shouted.

Normally, Alex would have agreed right away, but a sudden concern stopped him.

"Wait! What about the fruit bask- I mean, Waka? !"

"He can handle himself! Now let's GO!" the male figure shouted, backing them all away from the assassins who looked like they wanted nothing more to do with the duo, but were reluctantly advancing anyways.

"But-!"

The female figure next to him slid one of her blades into the sheath that had suddenly appeared at her belt, stepped forward, and grabbed his shoulder suddenly…and Alex found himself amazed by the strength in the grip, not crushingly strong, but enough that struggling against it would be futile.

"He can handle himself," she reiterated for the male figure. "Right now, our goal is to ensure that you and Amaterasu live, above all else."

"But…why?"

She cast her gaze over to Waka, still fighting Kurenai on the rooftops.

In a brief lull he had, in which Kurenai appeared to be catching his breath, Waka looked back at her…and nodded, in clear indication for them to leave _now._

"_They speak the truth, young one," _Amunae spoke up, having apparently settled down._ "You must go with them, now."_

"Come, Alex…let us leave this place," she concluded, pulling him along until he finally got the message and started running with her, sheathing Aku-Hametsu and carrying Ammy in both arms as the male figure slowly followed them, keeping his rapier up long enough to fend off the remaining assassins before turning and darting off.

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, the group came to a halt at Alex's insistence, the young man needing to catch his breath and, more secretly, check up on Ammy's condition. The wolf had gone limp in his arms, and Alex needed to make sure that it wasn't something serious enough to threaten her life.<p>

Taking a quick turn into an alleyway hidden by shadows, the two figures watched as Alex set Ammy down and began looking her over.

"Ammy? Hey, Ammy…" he said to her, in between heavy breaths from running. "You doing ok?"

She was still breathing, but unresponsive. Her entire body was covered in bloody gashes, the fur around each one stained a dark red from the blood that had leaked out…and even in her unconscious state, she was still trembling from the pain her body was undoubtedly in.

"…Hold on…" he whispered, wishing he had the Spidersilk Cloak right now, if for no other purpose than to use the cloth material for bandages. "Just hang in there…we're gonna be ok!"

The male figure was standing at the alley's opening, keeping watch for any pursuers while the female figure crouched down by Alex.

"Is…is there anything you guys can do?" he asked her in a whisper.

She looked at him for a second, and at this close a range, Alex could almost see what the white object poking out from underneath her hood was. Still, the darkness prevented him from drawing any conclusions before she looked down at the unconscious wolf and began checking a pouch at her waist.

"Ah, here we are…" she whispered to herself, pulling out what Alex realized was the same kind of parchment wrapping that herbal medicine was kept in. Opening it and exposing the discolored substance inside, she took some of it in her hand and gesture for Alex to do the same.

"Rub this into her wounds," she stated simply, and Alex immediately obeyed, taking some of the medicine and doing as she said. And as they slowly worked their way over her body, taking care of the more serious injuries first, Alex began to notice the medicine taking effect in a way he didn't expect: her cuts were beginning to close up right before his eyes in mere moments after the medicine was applied, and before long, the blood loss had been brought to a near-halt.

"What the hell kind of medicine is _this?"_ Alex asked, a look of disbelief on his face as Amunae simply watched from the back of his mind.

"One of the only kinds worth using…and the only one we have. It will help with many of the smaller wounds, but the bigger ones will still need to heal on their own." the female figure spoke, as she crumpled up the now-clean parchment and stuffed it back into her pouch. "At the very least, she shouldn't lose a life-threatening amount of blood. And as an added bonus…" she added with a light chuckle, "…none of these will leave a scar, either."

"So…she's gonna be ok?" Alex asked, the tension clear in his voice.

"For the time being, at least. She still needs time to rest and recover, which we will only get once we leave this place for good."

Alex took a deep breath, as if to let off the stress in his body, and he nodded as he put his gloved hand on Ammy's neck, as if to reassure himself that she would be ok.

"…Thank you…whoever you are…" he whispered. "…_thank you…_you saved us."

"Well, we cannot take all the credit," the male figure spoke up from his position. "We had some…help, when trying to find you."

"Help?" Alex repeated, looking up from Ammy.

"But of course, mon ami!" a French voice suddenly answered, and turning around to look at the other end of the alleyway, all three of them spotted none other than Waka in his distinctive pink-shirted outfit, striding towards them with that same unfazed smile upon his face. _"Bonjour_ once again, Monsieur Alex!"

Alex said nothing, but only stood and slowly limped over to the prophet as he stared the blonde-haired man in the eye with a slight frown on his face.

Everyone waited in silence as they waited for one of them to speak.

"…Waka…you crazy son of a bitch," Alex whispered…which quickly turned into a relieved, if somewhat strained chuckle. "I can't believe that YOU'RE the one who saved us. You came along just in the nick of time."

"It is what I do best, mon ami!" Waka stated. "I trust you and Lady Amaterasu are in good health?"

Alex looked over his dented, dirt-ridden, and bloodstained armor, before turning back to look at Amaterasu's limp form, the white wolf having only begun the long road to recovery.

"…As good as it's gonna get, I think," he finally said. "But…we wouldn't even be here at all if it wasn't for you…and whoever the hell your friends are."

"_Quoi, mon ami?_ You mean, you don't recognize them?" Waka asked, a rather interested look on his face from this new bit of knowledge. _"Bonte', Monsieur Alex!_ You HAVE met them before, after all!"

"What? ! What are you talking about, you crazy fruitcake?"

"See for yourself, mon ami," the prophet stated, directing Alex to turn around.

Doing just that, Alex saw the two figures pulling down their hoods, revealing...light brown fur, large pointed ears, and most noticeable of all, white masks.

_Kitsune masks. _Kitsune masks that he faintly recognized…

"No…" he breathed, a disbelieving smile appearing on his face. "No freaking way…_Ren? Miyu?_ Is that you guys?"

"Ho ho ho ho!" Ren chuckled in typical kitsune fashion, sweeping into an elaborate bow with his disguise's cloak in hand. "Well met, Alex! How has Nippon been treating you, my friend?"

"Uh…well…good enough, I guess. But, what are you guys _doing_ _here?_ How did you find us? And don't you guys have kids to be looking after?"

"Patience, Alexander…" Waka stated. "Now is not the time for such questions. We must be off soon if we wish to avoid pursuit." Striding past the young man, the Frenchman looked over Amaterasu once before nodding and turning to Miyu.

"Is the illusion still holding, madame?" he asked, to which she nodded.

"Wait…illusion? Of what?" Alex asked from the back.

"Oh, just the little image of _yours truly_ to keep this so-called _Commander Kurenai_ busy while we put some distance between us and him," Waka said over his shoulder, before turning back to Miyu. "And how much longer will it last, hmm?"

"Several minutes…that should give us enough time to fly the coop, unless he catches on early or sends his remaining men after us," she answered.

"…And what do you think the chances of _that_ happening are?" Alex said, stepping forward.

Waka turned and gave him one look that could suggest only one course of action.

"Right…I'll carry Ammy, then," Alex immediately answered, bending down and hoisting her up in his arms.

"Apologies, mon ami, but it would be faster to allow Ren or Miyu t-" Waka began, before a shake of Alex's head cut him off.

"I've got it, Waka…I'll take care of her," he said in a low voice, straightening out his back as he adjusted to the weight.

"…Are you certain of that?" Waka asked, raising an eyebrow as if he knew something that the young man didn't.

Alex nodded, a hard look of grim determination on his face. "I've carried her this far…I'll carry her out of here if I have to."

Waka stared at him with interest for a moment, before eventually nodding. "Very well, then. Shall we?"

"Let's go."

Sticking to the shadows, save for Waka who was way too noticeable with his pink shirt anyways, the group quickly made their way down the street through the bowls of the underground city.

"Damn, it got quiet fast…" Alex whispered as they jogged, as if worried that loud talking would give them away. "Where are we going, anyways?"

"Why, the secret passage you so kindly opened for us, mon ami!" Waka chuckled. "It would be a better option than taking another swim, wouldn't you agree?"

"Wait…how did you find out about _that?"_

"Ren and Miyu, monsieur!" Waka answered. "Remember the rather convincing disguises we were in?"

"Oh, right…how did you manage to infiltrate his ranks like that?"

"We merely…_borrowed_ the appearances of a couple patrols," Miyu responded, keeping a swift pace alongside Ren as the two kitsune led the group.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Alex questioned.

"_They killed them and impersonated their forms, young one," _Amunae stated, without a hint of sympathy or regret in his deep voice…unsurprising, considering his attitude thus far towards anything related to this "Black Hand" group.

"_Yeesh…things are getting more vicious and violent by the day…"_ Alex thought worriedly. _"If this keeps up, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to avoid killing more human beings…"_

The memory of the day the red samurai had assaulted Kusa Village, still fresh in his mind, made him shudder as he pushed himself to keep up the pace with the rest of the group. _"I'm not going to think about that right now…"_ he thought grimly. _"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."_

* * *

><p>Several minutes passed in silence as they jogged down the road, keeping an eye out for anything unusual or out of place. And as they pressed deeper into the city, Alex knew they were getting close to the shogun as they began to pass the burned-out husks of the buildings closest to it, many of them still standing despite the damage they had sustained during the past attack Alex had seen in his vision…and it was then that he realized just how many dark areas there were around this particular part of the city.<p>

Convenient locations for an ambush or three.

As if sensing this, the group slowed down and eventually stopped, most of them falling into a crouch and pressing up against a nearby building as Ren remained standing and sniffed the air.

Alex distinctly heard the low, animalistic growl that escaped the throat of the currently-human kitsune, which his experience with Amunae's behaviors told him didn't bode well for them at all.

"I don't like this…" Ren whispered.

"Then let us see if our friends have anything in store for us," Waka stated calmly. "Ren, you and I shall investigate. Madame Miyu, if you would, please watch over Alexander and Amaterasu."

The female kitsune nodded, keeping her hands close to her weapons and her nose to the air as she stood over the young man and wolf, at the same time that Ren and Waka slowly made their way into the thickest cluster of buildings that made up the current district they were all in.

As they waited, Alex took the opportunity to sit down – despite the possible threats waiting for them – and check over Ammy again. To his relief, her breathing had become steadier and she was no longer shaking in pain…the closed-up areas where her cuts once were would still need time to heal properly, but in all likelihood, she would make it.

They weren't out of the woods yet, but they could see the exit from where they were…they just needed to slip into the shogun unseen, and they were free as birds.

"…How's your leg, Alex?" Miyu asked, crouching down next to him, but keeping one of her large fox ears pointed towards the distance just in case.

Looking at her, Alex was about to ask how she knew, but realized that he must have made it fairly obvious with the limping gait that he had taken on recently.

"Still throbbing a bit, but I can still make good time on it," he answered. "…Hell, it could have been a lot worse."

He suddenly found himself surprised when she ran a gloved hand over the limb in question, and tried to suppress the discomfort that sprung up from the unexpected contact.

"Hmm…dislocated, and forcefully shoved back in," she concluded from her brief "examination." "That must have been quite painful."

"You picked all that up just from _that?"_ he questioned incredulously.

"Remember what I told you, when we first met Alexander?" she asked him. "I told you that I could see more than just what the naked eye alone can see…my age and wisdom allows that."

"Right, I remember…but I thought you were just speaking figuratively," he responded.

"Maybe…" she added with a coy grin, making Alex snort as he looked back down at Ammy.

"So…where are your kids?" he finally decided to ask. "You guys didn't bring them in here with you, right?"

"We left them outside the cave," she answered. "We figured that this place would be far too dangerous for them, especially with all of the assassins whose attention you seem to have attracted."

"Wait…you left them all alone?" he questioned, a slightly worried look crossing his face.

"Not to worry, Alex," she immediately responded with a light chuckle. "They are perfectly capable of handling themselves. The survival instincts passed down from their ancestors will keep them safe, and we have done this many times before."

"You sure about that…?"

"Of course. No offense to your own species, Alex, but kitsune children are far more capable of taking care of themselves at a young age than human children are."

"Oh…ok."

A brief silence opened up between them…

…before Alex heard something and looked down, noticing with a tremendous surge of relief that Ammy was actually waking up.

"Ammy! Hey, you feeling alright?" he asked her, putting her down on the ground and kneeling down next to her as she let off an audible groan and slowly lifted her head off the ground.

"_Y-yes…I think so…" _she responded shakily, before her voice gained some of its old strength back. "_…but…I'm going to need a VERY long nap in the sun after this."_

"Oh believe me, you'll get it!" he said with a laugh that bordered between genuine amusement and continuing concern for her increasingly bad condition.

Taking a deep breath to try and steady himself, he looked down at the ground and whispered, "I'm…I'm just glad you're ok."

"_As am I, for you…"_ she responded, managing a tiny smile.

It wasn't long before the white wolf noticed the figure near Alex, and she suddenly started before Alex realized what she was panicking about and stopped her.

"Whoa, easy! She's friendly!"

"_But she's dressed like-!" _Ammy managed to get out, before she spotted the white fox mask and fell silent, surprise coming over her features before it was eventually replaced with pure curiosity.

"Ammy, this is Miyu. She's a…'friend', I guess you could say," Alex introduced. "Miyu, Amaterasu. I'm sure you've heard of her at least once or twice."

"Of course!" the kitsune replied cheerfully. "Who _hasn't _heard of the great white wolf that vanquished evil and returned light to the land?"

"_Yes, well, it's certainly nice to…er, meet you as well. But…where did you come from? And why are you helping us?"_

"She's with Waka…he came to save us just in the nick of time," Alex answered.

"_Waka? ! He's here?" _she gasped in astonishment.

"Yes, he and my mate, Ren, are scouting ahead to make sure that the path is safe," the kitsune said. "We are waiting for their return before we start moving again."

Alex nodded, and asked, "You think you're good for another run, Ammy? Or do you want me to carry you again?"

"_I think you've done quite enough, already…" _she answered him determinedly, before struggling to get onto her feet. _"I've burdened you for long enough, Alex."_

"Well, hey, don't kill yourself trying to make a point!" Alex exclaimed, watching as Ammy's legs shaking with effort as she tried to push herself off the ground, before suddenly collapsing again with an exhausted gasp of air.

"_Oh, curse my lack of powers!" _she snarled in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion, causing a pitying feeling to well up inside Alex despite the fact that she most likely wouldn't have wanted it. After all, he remembered that this was her first experience with going for an extended period of time without her divine powers to help her, and it was likely starting to have an effect on her normally calm and relaxed mood.

He knew it almost the moment he saw it.

She was starting to feel like she was useless. Deadweight. Something that wasn't worth saving.

She couldn't afford to feel like that. Not when they were this close to escaping. He needed to get Ammy back into the sunlight, to reinvigorate both her body and her mind…and come hell or high water, he would make sure that happened no matter what.

In a movement that almost surprised him, he reached out and put a hand on her paw, saying, "Look…just hang in there for a little longer, ok? I'll get you out of here. _We'll_ get you out of here, right Miyu?"

He looked over to her, seeing her nod…and seeing the dark shape that suddenly emerged from the shadows behind her.

His eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat as his other hand raised up and pointed over her shoulder.

"_M-Miyu_! BEHIND YOU!"

* * *

><p>A good ways ahead, Ren and Waka suddenly heard a loud shriek split the air.<p>

"_Miyu…MIYU!"_ Ren shouted, immediately darting off back the way they came, Waka following him without a single word.

* * *

><p>"Well, what do we have here?" a voice that Alex had never wanted to hear again growled lowly. "A little fox, caught outside of her hole in the ground?"<p>

His breath came in quick, adrenaline-fueled gasps, his body having fallen back over Ammy in a poor attempt to scramble away from the scythe-wielding assassin that had suddenly appeared behind Miyu…wearing the Spidersilk Cloak that he had been forced to leave behind when escaping.

He had tried to shout a warning, but too late…and now, the fox-human was caught in an iron-hard grip around her throat, thrashing about and pulling at his gauntleted hand in an attempt to get away.

There were no illusions here…despite her animal instincts, Alex knew that Miyu didn't have _nearly_ enough time to react to the danger.

"Very interesting little trick there, making it seem as though I were actually fighting an opponent, rather than thin air," Kurenai rasped, tightening his grip as Miyu let out a choked gasp. "I never knew the boy held so much sway with your kind."

Leaning in close, the four glowering eyeholes of his helmet staring into hers, he whispered, "…That is a mistake that I shall not make twice."

Reaching back behind him, he drew out a hideous-looking knife, the wickedly curved and jagged edge of the black blade looking as though it were crafted to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible when stabbed into someone.

"Now where should I start, hmm?" he chuckled, bringing up the weapon up to her masked face and tracing the sharpened edge of it down around her eye, drawing something that sounded like a half-angry, half-frightened growl out of her.

"Perhaps I should gouge out your eyes for attempting to fool my own with your little trick, and let you suffer from perpetual blindness for the rest of your tragically long life?" he suggested…and even though Alex couldn't see his face, there was no doubt in his mind that it held a sadistic smile on it right now.

"_Oh Jesus…" _Alex mentally gasped, knowing that he should be doing something, but unable to get himself to move. _"Sick bastard!"_

"Ah, but that would be _wasteful,_ because I just so happen to know a perfect little stall in the Demon Market that pays a fine price for intact fox hides…_especially_ if they were removed while the prey was still alive," he continued, bringing the knife down and tracing the point down the curves of her body in a sickening fashion. "But that would require a little…change of appearance on your part."

Bringing the knife back up, he slipped the edge of it beneath the string holding her mask on, and sliced it off with a flick of his wrist, causing the mask to fall off her face and expose it for all the world to see.

"So what do you say, little fox?" he hissed, taking the weapon and sticking the tip of it against the bottom of her muzzle, drawing out just a tiny nick of blood that trailed down the weapon's razor edge. "Make my day…or ruin your own?"

"NEITHER!"

Kurenai looked over at the source of the shout, just in time for a fist-sized rock to connect squarely with the front of his helmet with a loud _bong!_

Nothing. Not even a flinch. Only a puff of dust from the rock as it bounced off and rolled to a stop on the ground nearby.

The assassin commander just stood there, staring straight at him, and Alex suddenly found himself reconsidering how wise his action had just been, as Kurenai inverted his grip on the knife to free up his thumb and wiped it across the area where the rock had struck.

Staring at the dust on his gloved hand, Alex noticed the glowing lights of his eyes narrow in contempt.

"…You scuffed my armor, boy."

(_Evangelion 2.0 OST – Les Betes_)

There was a heavy _whumph_ as he dropped Miyu to the ground, the fox-human gasping for air and lying there as he moved away from her…straight towards Alex.

"_Oh shit, now what? !"_ Alex thought, gulping as Kurenai sheathed his knife in favor of drawing his massive scythe out, taking it in both hands as he advanced on the young man with murderous intent in the four eyes of his helmet.

"_Take Amaterasu and run, NOW!" _Amunae shouted, as Alex stumbled over Ammy and quickly moved to grab her before the assassin got too close.

"Ammy, come on, we _gotta GO!"_ he shouted, trying to pull her to her feet so he could grab her better. But in his panic, his hand slipped on the blood still in her fur, and he lost precious seconds along with his grip.

By the time he finally secured it, the assassin had already raised his weapon up for a killing strike, and Alex stared right up at him the exact moment the weapon came down and his arm went up in a futile attempt to protect himself.

"_Alex, LOOK OUT!" _he heard Ammy shout.

_WHAM!_

Alex heard the hit and waited for the pain to rocket through his body…but it never came.

He cracked his eyes open, just a smidgen…and saw the massive blade of the scythe barely and inch from his nose, its tip embedded in the brick path beneath them.

"Alex! RUN!" he heard Miyu shout, and glancing over to her, saw her outstretched hand extended towards them…and the multitude of tails that had suddenly sprouted out from behind her, all of them glowing with purple foxfire.

She had cast an illusion that had just saved his life AGAIN.

"RUN!" she shouted again, and as Kurenai suddenly realized what had happened, the assassin growled and lunged forward with his gauntleted hand outstretched for him.

Alex responded by immediately launching himself backwards out of his crouching position, his coiled up legs throwing him just beyond Kurenai's reach and causing him to land on his back. Quickly rolling over and pushing himself up, Ammy still in his arms, Alex took off as fast as he could, hearing the assassin wrenching the scythe out of the ground behind them and giving chase…right before one of Miyu's tails suddenly broke through the ground and wrapped around his legs, causing him to stumble as he snarled and shot a glare back towards her.

"Stay out of my way, _bitch!"_ he shouted, taking the scythe and, before she could retract her tail, slammed it down on the appendage and completely severed it with a single brutalizing strike.

Normally, he would have taken a sick pleasure in her sudden scream of pain and the sight of her blood spattering on the ground, but right now, he had a job to do…Lord Nobunaga's orders. Setting his scythe over his shoulder, he muttered, "I'll be back to finish the job…" and set off after the boy.

Gritting her teeth as she reflexively snarled in pain, Miyu shakily sat up and dismissed all of her tails, taking in the sight of her own blood on the ground as she waited for Ren and Waka to show up. And show up they did, when she heard Ren's gasp as he came within sight of the scene they had created.

"Miyu! Are you-? !" he began, but a wave from her cut him off.

"I'm fine, but Kurenai's gone after Alex! You need to go after him, quickly!" she stated, suppressing another wave of pain and the shock of losing one of her hard-earned tails. It would grow back eventually…but that would take time, and she would be weakened by an entire tail's worth of power until that time came.

"She is right, Monsieur Ren. We must pursue them!" Waka stated. Ren looked like he desperately wanted to stay with his mate, but any retort that he would have used was silenced when an arrows sudden deflected off the ground in front of them, making them all jump and draw their weapons as Miyu quickly pushed herself into a standing position and scooped her lose mask up in the process.

Kurenai's assassins. Their remaining numbers had found them, some stationed on the rooftops and firing arrows at the group of three while more had drawn swords and daggers and were charging straight at them.

Ren, Miyu, and Waka all knew they would have to be dealt with before they could pursue Kurenai, or the assassins would dog them the entire way. His flutesaber springing to life, casting its green glow across the dark city around them, Waka said, "Let us be quick with these ones…we have not the time to dilly-dally!"

"Agreed!" Ren and Miyu spoke in unison, all three of them raising their weapons as the assassins charged.

* * *

><p>"<em>You can't hide forever, boy! I can smell your fear!"<em> Kurenai's voice echoed, seemingly from everywhere at once as Alex kept his head down and ran for his and Ammy's life. He was being pursued, that much was certain, but the real fear he was feeling right now was not knowing just where the hell Kurenai _was._

"_Give up! You can't win against the might of the Black Hand! Show yourself and make it easier for all of us!"_

"_Like hell, I will!" _Alex mentally retorted.

"_We can't fight him like this!" _Ammy said. _"We need someplace to hide and wait for Waka and the others to find us!"_

"Then pick a house, already! We don't have many other choices!" he snapped as he turned onto one of the major pathways lined with houses.

"_Fine! That one!" _she yelled, directing his attention to a two-story house they were coming up on. Skidding to a stop, Alex set Ammy down and tried the doorknob, but much to his chagrin, it was also locked.

"Shit! You gotta be KIDDING ME!" he belted out, punching the thick wood in frustration.

"_Step aside! Let me handle it!"_ Ammy commanded, Alex doing just that as she stepped back for another of her powerful headbutts. Dashing forward, she bashed her thick skull into the wood…but this time, the door only rattled heavily, refusing to go down like the first one had.

"Ammy? !"

"_I'm trying! Just hold on!"_ she yelled, stepping back again and headbutting the door again. There was a loud _'crack!'_ as the door bent inwards and opened just a crack, and looking inside, Alex immediately realized what was slowing them down.

"The door's barred! Move, I'll get it!" he said, pulling off his metal gauntlet and shoving his exposed hand through the crack in the nearly broken door. Feeling around for a second, his hand finally closed around a thick plank of wood, and he began struggling to get it up and off the door.

Suddenly, from behind them, they heard a heavy _whumph_, and stopped what they were doing as they looked behind them.

Kurenai, in a crouched position, likely having just leapt off one of the rooftops.

His helmeted head slowly looked up, the glowing red eyes staring daggers at them, as he jammed the metallic haft of his scythe against the ground and pushed himself up.

"_Alex, hurry!"_ Ammy yelled, and the young man immediately set to grabbing at the board again, trying not to panic despite certain doom approaching them from across the way.

"Almost, _almost…GOT IT!"_ he yelled, the barred door finally giving way as he pushed it open and let Ammy in. Kurenai, very close to them now, raised his scythe up high for an attack, right before Alex slammed the door in his face and threw himself up against it to hold it closed.

_CRASH!_

The black blade of Kurenai's scythe broke through the thick wood only an inch to the left of Alex's head, and he fell away with a frightened "GAH!"

The wood creaked and groaned as Kurenai wrenched the blade free and slammed it into the door again, the thick wood barely holding against the assault.

"H-he's getting in!" Alex stammered, backing away as he slipped his gauntlet back on. "What do we do, Ammy? !"

"_I…I don't know!"_ she yelled, right before a tremendous _CRASH_ split the air, wooden splinters flying at them and forcing them to shield themselves.

And there, as the physical embodiment of a _seriously_ pissed-off Grim Reaper, stood Kurenai, Alex's Spidersilk Cloak hanging from his shoulders and blocking out what little light was coming from outside.

"Knock, knock…" the assassin commander chuckled darkly, stepping inside.

Alex and Ammy slowly backed away as Kurenai slowly advanced on them, the tension in the air so incredibly _thick_ that any of them could have cut it with their various weapons…save for Ammy.

"Congratulations, boy…you've officially given me more trouble than I needed today," Kurenai growled. "You AND your little pet wolf."

"Get behind me, Ammy…" Alex whispered to her, grabbing Aku-Hametsu and drawing it out.

"_I cannot advise this course of action, young one!"_ Amunae spoke. _"He is too powerful for you! The odds of you surviving are-!"_

"_Don't tell me the odds, Amunae!" _Alex yelled at the fox spirit, taking the sword in both hands as he assumed his combat stance and pointed the tip of it at Kurenai.

"Oh really, now? Put that down before you poke your eye out, boy!" Kurenai sneered, bringing his own weapon up.

"Piss off…" Alex growled, gritting his teeth.

Kurenai's eyes narrowed in response to the insult.

"Fine, then…another kill to my name!" he snarled, raising the scythe up.

Before he could strike, Alex lunged forward and attacked, swinging Aku-Hametsu in a diagonal slash at Kurenai's left shoulder. As the assassin had proven, though, he was a skilled fighter to say the least, and quickly redirected the long shaft of his weapon to guard against the attack. Alex could feel each fiber of iron-hard muscle behind Kurenai's block, which only served to reinforce the notion that he was _massively_ outclassed here.

Growling angrily, the assassin locked his arms and shoved forward with all his strength, pushing Alex off like he was light as a feather and causing him to slam into the back wall of the house. His head made contact with the wall as well, stunning him as stars exploded in his vision…and he barely heard Ammy's shout, the wolf having scampered off to the side to avoid getting hit as well.

Forcing himself to stay standing, Alex shook off the disorientation and pushed himself off the wall straight towards Kurenai in a lunge, but the assassin had other plans. Stepping to the side in an elaborate dodge, Kurenai angled his arm and slammed his chainmail-covered elbow into the back of Alex's head, causing the young man to stumble forward and fall onto his hands and knees and drop Aku-Hametsu in the process.

"Oldest trick in the book…" the assassin sighed, going up to the stunned Alex and grabbing him by the back plate of his armor before heaving him into the opposite wall with a heavy _'slam!'_ and knocking the breath out of him.

"And Aku-Hametsu picked _you_ as its wielder? Oh _please._ You're pathetic!" Kurenai sneered, crossing his arms.

Growling angrily and refusing to give up this easily, Alex managed to stagger back onto his feet and, without even considering trying to pick up Aku-Hametsu again, lunged forward and threw a punch right at Kurenai's head.

The assassin did nothing to try and stop him, and his fist collided with the helmet…prompting another pained shout as his knuckles bruised under the force of the collision against the mighty helmet, causing him to grab at the hand with the other.

Kurenai responded by lunging forward and grabbing Alex around the neck again, slamming him into the wall again and leaning in close.

"You really think you can take me?" he whispered lowly, ignoring Alex's grunts as the young man tried to free himself. "Well you're _wrong."_

There was a snarl from behind them, and Kurenai let off a sudden "AGGH!" as he let go of Alex and stumbled backwards, dropping his scythe in the progress.

(_Dark Souls OST – Iron Golem_)

Gasping for air as he slid down to the ground, Alex looked up and saw Ammy perched on Kurenai's back, the white wolf having sunk her teeth into the back of his armored neck and refusing to let go as he stumbled around and tried to grab at her.

Not wasting the opening, Alex grabbed Aku-Hametsu off of the ground and got back up, holding the weapon and waiting for an opening that he could exploit.

"Ammy! Turn him around!" he shouted.

Shifting her weight, Ammy heaved the assassin around, trying to expose his front so that Alex wouldn't accidentally hit her.

"No…_you…DON'T!"_ Kurenai yelled, suddenly getting his hands on the wolf's front paws and yanking them forward and down as hard as he could, tearing her jaw free from the back of his armored neck and throwing her over his head…straight down into the floor with all the force he could muster.

"AMMY!" Alex shouted, cringing involuntarily as the absolutely furious assassin reared back with his leg and kicked her as hard as he could, sending her flying through the air to slam into an assortment of ancient furniture. The ancient wood crumbled and collapsed around her, burying her limp form in dust and debris.

With his breath coming in heavy, angry heaves, Kurenai turned back to face Alex, right as the young man rushed him in absolute fury over the harm he had caused to his best friend.

"_You son of a bitch! I'LL KILL YOU!"_ Alex yelled, swinging Aku-Hametsu as hard as he could at the now-weaponless Kurenai.

The assassin barely managed to sidestep the first swing, and was forced to back away as Alex continued to assault him. Grabbing his knife out and keeping his arms out to the sides, the assassin focused on bobbing and weaving around the strikes, carefully waiting for a single moment of vulnerability that he could exploit.

It came when Alex raised the weapon over his head and swung down in a two-handed chop as hard as he could…and was immediately rebuffed when Kurenai dodged it, stepped forward, and grabbed him by the wrists.

The brief moment of surprise was interrupted when Kurenai brought his arm around and swung a vicious backhand with his armored fist, snapping Alex's head to the side and causing spittle to fly from his lips…even as he fell back and let go of Aku-Hametsu, leaving it in the assassin's hands.

His disarm successful, Kurenai subsequently dropped the ancient sword and kicked it backwards with his heel, making a mental note to retrieve it later as he stepped forward to engage the young man once more. Still reeling from the hit, Alex couldn't recover in time for the assassin's first attack, and immediately felt a searing pain on his wrist where the guard was missing…given to Ammy to help splint her injured leg. Grabbing at it and feeling blood smearing on the skin beneath, Alex stumbled backwards and held his arms up protectively, trying to predict Kurenai's next movement. The problem was, he knew next to nothing about hand-to-hand combat against an armed opponent, which only served to further increase the disadvantage he had.

"Let's see how well you fight with a thousand cuts across your body!" Kurenai taunted, stabbing forward with a measured strike from the knife again, Alex leaning out of the way and falling backwards when he accidentally tripped over the scythe the assassin had dropped.

Desperation made his reach forward and grab the mighty weapon off the ground, feeling its tremendous weight pulling on his arms as he fought to bring it up into a fighting stance.

"Using MY own weapon against me? !" Kurenai said in response. "Hah! Good luck!"

Alex responded with a heavy swing, and suddenly stumbled as the heavy weapon pulled him off-balance. Kurenai sidestepped the weak attack easily, making a _tsk tsk tsk_ sound as Alex took way too long to get the weapon back into position again.

"Pitiful," the assassin sighed, before launching a punch that struck Alex right in the nose. A loud _crunch_ split the air, and Alex fell back with muffled scream through his hands as his nose broke apart under the weight of the massive gauntlet. The scythe clattered to the ground, and Kurenai stooped down to retrieve it, looking back up at the young man and watching the blood now pouring out from under his hands.

"You've got some fight in you, I'll give you that," the assassin muttered, setting the scythe across his back but leaving the knife in his hand as he stood and watched Alex roll around back onto his hands and knees. "But it takes more than that to stand up to _me."_

Stepping forward, he reached out and grabbed the young man by the hair, eliciting another pained shout from Alex as he hauled him partway up into a standing position.

Behind them, Amaterasu began to stir, opening her eyes again as she caught sight of a very blurry Alex, being held by a very blurry assassin.

"_Alex..."_ she groaned out, struggling to stand as her vision began to clear, but unable to do so from the weight of all the debris on top of her. _"Alex!"_

"Now to exact revenge for the deaths of my ancestors…ancestors whose lives your predecessors STOLE from them with YOUR SWORD!" the assassin snarled, the knife flashing as he brought it to bear.

Alex suddenly twisted himself around, and in a last-ditch effort to get Kurenai off him, he drove the large wooden splinter he had secretly picked up straight into the lightly armored area of Kurenai's upper leg.

"AUGH! _YOU LITTLE…GRRGH!"_ Kurenai roared, letting go of Alex's hair, grabbing onto the offending arm, and stomping down on it with all the force he could muster in his leg.

Words couldn't _possibly _describe the pain that went through Alex at that moment, as the bones in his arm snapped apart underneath the heavy blow, rendering the limb useless as the impromptu weapon fell from his grasp. It was so intense, he couldn't even scream in pain but for the incredible shock that had gone through his system.

"This has gone on for _LONG ENOUGH!"_ Kurenai shouted, continuing his punishing attack, as he grabbed Alex's back plate again…and this time, drove the knife into the young man's back.

All the way up to the hilt.

(_Fate/Zero OST – Point Zero_)

Amaterasu let off a mental gasp, falling silent with only a shocked look on her face to possible betray her emotions.

Her blood ran cold as the assassin let go of Alex, his body falling limply to the floor…the knife still impaled in his back, as the assassin stood triumphantly over him.

His eyes were still open…

…and he slowly turned them, to look her straight in the eyes.

She only saw one thing in them…

"_Sorry, Ammy. I tried."_

The emotions that welled up inside her at that moment…

Sadness…anger…disbelief…

"_Alex…"_

…and others that she didn't even KNOW she had…

…It all began to combine…combine into a vicious, roiling mixture of anger and fury.

"…_Alex!"_

It made the blood in her veins boil and run cold at the same time. It was fury incarnate and the cold embrace of a need for _vengeance._

A vengeance, the likes of which, only a _goddess_ could possibly bring about.

"_ALEXANDER!"_

Her entire body shook…not from pain, but from _anger_. From _sadness_. From a combination of everything that had gone wrong ever since they had set out on this ill-fated journey to cleanse the Gale Shrine.

All of her rage and fury came out at that exact moment, directed at the one man who had just taken away one of her _friends._

That_ one man_.

_Kurenai._

"_KUUURREEENAAAAIIIIII!" _she bellowed with the full fury of the sun.

And everything around her exploded.

The shout hit his mind with the force of the Bull Charger, and Kurenai reeled backwards at the same time that an explosion of heat and fire tore through the air around him, knocking him up against the wall behind him with enough force to drive the air from his lungs.

"_What in the name of Yami-!"_ he gasped out, coughing as the intense heat suddenly reached his lungs and seared the very air he was drawing for breath. The inside of the house had suddenly turned into a ferocious blaze that was consuming everything in sight, and Kurenai found himself astounded by the show of extreme power.

The flames directly ahead of him parted…and his eyes widened.

_The wolf._

Amaterasu, her body once covered with nothing but plain white fur and blood-covered gashes, now stood before him with ALL of her divine markings now back in place where they belonged. Her face was twisted into a terribly ferocious snarl that exposed all of her razor sharp teeth, her tail whipped about angrily, and atop her back, her most powerful reflector now resided.

_Solar Flare_. Kurenai had heard rumors about the legendary divine weapon, but never did he think he would actually be _going up against it_ in battle.

"_GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU MONSTER!" _she shrieked, lunging forward with her teeth bared and crimson flames encircling her majestic form.

Kurenai scrambled to get his weapon back up, but was a fraction of a second too late as the wolf hit him with enough force to literally BLAST them both through the wall behind him, a cascade of wooden splinters flying through the air around them as the wall collapsed and they both tumbled into the street. The area was now lit up in a way that it hadn't been for a century, as Kurenai noticed when he rolled sideways with the momentum and came back up onto his feet.

The moment he managed to re-center himself, he knew it was already too late. Amaterasu was already moving, whipping her tail once, and a sudden lash of force struck his hands. His scythe flew from his grip and into the air, spinning once before it impaled itself into the ground _far_ beyond reaching distance.

"_You little…!"_ was all he could get out, before she snarled and whipped her Reflector at him, slamming it into his gut and cutting off anything else he was about to say. Before he could recover from being winded, a massive gust of tornado-force wind struck him, sending him flying backwards off his feet and causing him to smash through _another_ doorway into the bowels of a house across the way.

Struggling to get to his feet within the house, Kurenai suddenly felt something impossibly heavy land on top of his legs, crushing them beneath its weight and stopping his attempts to get up.

It was large and circular…_and it had a lit fuse._

"No…" he breathed.

Suddenly, out of thin air, two more appeared on either side of him.

"NO!" he shouted, in pure defiance of what was about to happen.

BOOOOOOM!

All three cherry bombs exploded at once, blasting out the entire bottom floor of the house…and missing most of its support, the entire structure instantaneously collapsed inward with a tremendous cacophony of shattering glass and breaking wood that echoed through the entire cavern with an almost deafening volume.

And then…it was silent.

Breathing heavily from her intense surge, Amaterasu stood victorious over the flaming wreckage of the house before her.

Vengeance had been done.

"_But at what cost? Alex…he…he…!"_ she thought, her fury dying down and quickly being replace with a terrible, gaping void of sadness and despair.

She distantly remembered…it was the same feeling she had when she thought she had lost Waka…when she had fought _him._ The source of all darkness in the world.

A suddenly noise behind her pulled her from her thoughts, and turning around, she suddenly froze when she saw it.

Alex. He was standing…and coming towards her, holding his side with the same hand that he had recovered Aku-Hametsu with…the other hung limply, useless to him for the moment.

Her open-mouthed stare slowly began to turn into one of elated relief. He was _alive._

And that was when he suddenly stumbled, dropping Aku-Hametsu to the ground and coughing violently into his hand.

He stopped…and slowly looked up at her, as she took a single step towards him in concern, dreading what she must have realized what was coming next.

He smiled…raised his still-working arm into a weak, incredibly shaky thumbs-up…

And then he collapsed face-first to the ground.

"_NO!"_ she screamed.

* * *

><p><em>The Oina Warrior fought tooth and nail against the ravages of history and time to find them.<em>

_The poncle, ever dutiful to the one whose service he was sworn to, remained at his side, doing whatever was in the power of his tiny hands to help him._

_The Moon Tribesman, his true motives still yet unknown, had emerged from the shadows, in his attempt to save the light._

_The seven-tailed ones, standing by his side for reasons also unknown, had assisted him with ensuring that the sun rose once more in the sky._

_And Amaterasu had nearly given her life to protect the one who had done the same for her…and in a terrible blaze of fire and vengeance, had struck down the evil that had brought low the Sword-Wielder._

_But at what cost, she wondered? The terrible truth of the matter still rang true: Alexander was no longer in a place that she could reach…and plead as she might, the young man would not respond to her calls._

_Was the young hero dead? Or had some other fate befallen him, within the dark confines of the Takeda Clan's lost city?_

_Only time would tell…and it most certainly would, for even here, in the depths of the mountain, Amaterasu could sense a terrible and all-too-familiar evil brewing on the surface and the horizon._

_Orochi._

_The true battle for Nippon's fate had only just begun…and darkness would strike long before the sun shone forth._

* * *

><p><strong>(Rate, review, and check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time)<strong>


	36. Gathering the Lost

**Alright, time to get Act 4 underway! This one is gonna be good, especially for me since it's gonna have a lot of stuff that I've been looking forward to writing for a while now. Here's hoping that you enjoy this act as well!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 34: Gathering the Lost<strong>

(_Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess OST – Midna's Lament_)

She couldn't see much with the darkness blurring the cave around them, but she knew by the sound of the wind whistling past her ears that they were traveling at an incredibly fast pace.

With Amaterasu having eliminated the threat of the assassin commander, Waka, Ren, and Miyu had decided in an instant to abandon all forms of stealth in favor of pure speed. Gathering both her and the unresponsive Alex in their arms, after doing what they could to patch Alex's wounds and stop the bleeding, the kitsune had unleashed their full speed and proceeded to flee the underground city at a pace that no ordinary human could possibly hope to match…with the exception of Waka, who typically exceeded expectations once again by easily keeping pace with the two fox-faced humans.

They were leaving this horrid place…_finally_…but such freedom had come at a terrible price: Alex was near death, having suffered a vicious stab wound through the lower back from the assassin Kurenai, and Amaterasu was certain that the only reason he was holding on even now was the dose of Rejuvenation she had given him to bring out the reserves of strength in his body.

Not for fighting, or physical labor…but to keep his heart beating until they found help.

Now, they were racing through the secret passage that Alex had apparently uncovered, from what Waka had hurriedly told her right before they had set out. Their breakneck pace through the narrow, winding cavern made it seem as though they would hit any obstacles in their way with enough force to cause harm, but the two kitsune proved as wily as their race's reputation had led her to believe, the fox-faced humans twisting and turning with the passage ahead as though they had run it a dozen times before. Even as they broke out into a larger tunnel and heard the familiar sound of the same underground river flowing by right next to them, they didn't falter or slow down in the least, keeping perfect balance on the narrow stone path as they darted ahead with all due haste.

She didn't have time to watch, however…her thoughts were entirely on Alex, the wolf staring ahead from Miyu's arms to Ren, who kept the young man hoisted over his right shoulder as he ran.

Her Rejuvenation had given him time, but only a few hours at the most. He needed a healer, or he wouldn't last the night…and indeed it _was_ night, which she found out for sure when they suddenly broke out into the open for the first time in days, the cool fresh air reaching her lungs and filling her with a brief sense of relief.

They were standing at the top of a strong waterfall, on the mountain face high above the lake that was forming beneath them. The cool spray of the cascading water wafted over them, soothing her still-stinging cuts, as they paused briefly to relocate the path ahead of them.

She had missed the sight of the hundred and more stars glittering in the night sky, but more than that, she missed the warmth of the sun that she was bound to.

It was a fleeting thought, however, as she turned her attention back to Alex…hoping to herself and the other Brush Gods that they could save him before he expired. Soon enough, they were on their way again, racing down the nearby trail that led down into the dark forest far below them.

As her eyes adjusted to the somewhat "lighter" darkness that came with the moonlight, she thought she spotted a figure making its way around the bank of the lake far below…but even with the light of the moon, it was far too dark to tell for sure.

* * *

><p>"Can't see anything in this fing-fangled dark!" Issun belted out, hopping up and down irritably, despite the fact that his bright green glow was likely casting enough light for them to see at least partially in the night. "Maybe we should stop for the night, Oki!"<p>

Typically, though, his suggestion fell on deaf ears. Slowly tromping his way around the bank of the lake, not even stopping to take a drink and ease his parched throat, Wolf-Oki continued making his way towards the opening of the path that would take them up to the source of the waterfall…to the entrance of the caves, and the Takeda city, within.

He didn't know for certain whether they would find Alex of Amaterasu taking shelter in the city…for all he and Issun knew, they could still be at the bottom of the dark chasm within the collapsed ruins of the Gale Shrine…

No. He wouldn't think about that possibility yet. Something told him they were alive. They just HAD to be. If Amaterasu was anything like her predecessor, who's survivability Oki had witnessed first-hand, she would have lived through such an event…and would have done everything in her power to make sure that Alex did as well.

He would find them…just like Issun said. All he needed was the willpower to _just keep walking_.

"Hey, wait a sec…" Issun suddenly spoke up. "Oki! Up ahead! You seeing what I'm seeing?"

Oki looked up in the direction the poncle was looking, and even in the darkness of the moonlit night, he could clearly make out what appeared to be three dark shapes running at an incredibly high speed…_down_ the path he was heading towards.

Before he could react, they had descended below the tree line, and completely vanished from sight.

"What the heck? Who were _those_ guys? !" Issun belted out, before Wolf-Oki summoned a burst to strength and willed himself to start moving faster, refusing to stop until they arrived at the base of the mountain path several minutes later.

"Bootprints…" Issun muttered, examining the ground around them. "Looks like they're leading into the forest! But why would they be heading that…way…?"

Issun trailed off when he realized that the bootprints in the moist dirt had given way to _pawprints_ right before they disappeared into the trees.

"…What the heck…?" the poncle breathed, utterly confused.

Without a word, Wolf-Oki began to sniff around, picking out scents that stood out from the smells of the forest around them. In an instant, he discovered fresh ones…undoubtedly, the ones of the mysterious figures that had just passed through here.

Two that were unfamiliar…foxlike…and two he recognized.

_Amaterasu and Alex._

"Oki? What is it?" Issun demanded to know, when he felt the wolf suddenly stiffen below him. "You got a scent?"

Suddenly, the wolf took off at a speed that seemed beyond him, given his current exhausted state, and poor Issun had no choice but to quickly grab onto a hunk of Wolf-Oki's fur with a sudden curse to punctuate his irritation as he was carried along for the ride.

* * *

><p>"Look! Mom and dad are back!" she heard a gleeful, child-like voice suddenly speak.<p>

"Mommy! Daddy!" another voice called out, and Amaterasu could see a tiny fox emerging from the forest around the small clearing they had come to a stop in, along with several more.

"Where did you guys go? Was it a place full of danger and adventure, like in the stories?" one of them asked excitedly.

"I wish I could've gone!" another complained.

All of them fell silent for a moment when Ren, having transformed back into his fox form several minutes ago, brought his seven tails around and deposited a comatose Alex on the grassy dirt in front of him.

"Hey! I know that guy! That's Mister Alex!"

"…he's not moving…"

"Mom? Dad? Did something happen to Mister Alex? Is he gonna be ok?"

Ren gave Miyu – who was also in her fox form – a certain look, and she nodded back at him, depositing Amaterasu on the ground with her own tails before moving forward and gently herding their kits away.

"Wait! Can't we watch?"

"Aww, mom!"

"Hush, children…" she whispered quietly to them, as they disappeared back into the trees.

Amaterasu slowly limped over to Ren, Waka already kneeling down beside him, and the fox gave her a look that said in no uncertain terms how…well…_uncertain_ he was about the young man's condition.

"…He's still breathing, at least…" the kitsune muttered, using a large paw to turn him over and examine the impromptu cloth bandage they had used in an attempt to stop up the bleeding gouge in Alex's lower back. Leaning forward and gently taking the cloth in his jaws, Ren peeled it away and exposed the injury to the air.

"Damn…still bleeding, and ferociously as well," Ren stated in a muffled voice, spitting the cloth out. "He won't last the night with this kind of injury!"

"_But…there must be something that you can do to help him!"_ Ammy exclaimed. _"What about that medicine you used on me?"_

"There was only one packet we had, and all of that went to you," Ren stated, as Waka silently began redressing the wound with a few scraps of cloth he had. "You must understand, Amaterasu, medicine like that is hard to come by…even for kitsune like Miyu and I."

"Then perhaps we shall seek out those who DO possess it?" Waka suggested. "I do believe you and your mate have knowledge of the location of such a curative?"

Amaterasu looked confusedly to Ren, who in turn stared hard at Waka as though the Frenchman had said something he shouldn't have, before sighing heavily and lowering his gaze to the ground.

"There is _one_ place that we know of that possesses the necessary materials to save him…but there will be a certain risk involved," Ren muttered.

"_Where? Please, you MUST tell us!" _Amaterasu pleaded.

"The Kawa Tribe…their home is only several hours away. We might be able to find assistance there."

"_Do my ears deceive me? !_" Miyu's voice suddenly belted out from the trees, the kitsune in question reappearing in front of them. "Ren, you are not seriously considering taking him THERE, are you?"

"You know they are the only ones who can save him at this point, Miyu! We have neither time nor the materials to assist him ourselves!"

"That's not the point! You _know_ Keikai's stance on allowing outsiders into his village! We'd be lucky if we even got within shouting distance before being turned away!"

"Do you have a better option? !" Ren snarled, perhaps a little louder than he meant to, but it still got his point across. "Can you honestly think of _any_ other option? !"

Miyu bristled, but didn't say anything.

"You know the oath we swore, Miyu!" he continued. "We MUST help him, by any means necessary!"

"And what of our children, Ren? !" she snarled back at him. "What about the ones you care about so deeply? ! You know we cannot uphold our oath with them in our charge!"

"I know the risks, Miyu! But we cannot forget the reason _why_ we chose to remain in those ruins for so long!"

"_What?"_ Amaterasu thought to herself. _"What are they talking about?"_

She looked to Waka, as though the Frenchman held the answers, but his gaze was locked straight ahead on the two bickering foxes…that same look on his face, as though he knew something the rest of them did not.

"I will NOT leave them behind again, _Mori Ren!_" she snarled, the full use of his name stating just how serious she was. "For all we know, those assassins could still be after us, and I would rather _die_ than let those monsters skin them all!"

"Who said anything about leaving them behind? !" Ren sputtered.

"If you DO know the risks, Ren, then you know that it will be dangerous to keep them around _him!_" she answered. "I trust Alex as much as you do, but the boy is a _beacon_ for the Black Hand! They will be drawn to him like flies to rotting fruit! Are you willing to put your own children in that much danger while taking Alex to the Kawa Tribe?"

"_Miyu…"_ he whispered, his voice losing its power in favor of deathly seriousness. "You know we cannot go back on our oath…not after what we did."

"And I cannot turn my back on my children! So what do you suggest we do, Ren?" she demanded to know, giving him her ultimatum.

There was silence, punctuated only by Alex's shaky, uneven breathing.

"_Please! You have to help him! We have no one else to turn to!" _Amaterasu broke in.

Ren looked like he was about to say something, but a sudden rustle in the brush behind them cut him off, and in a flash, both foxes were standing over Alex in defensive stances, Waka and Amaterasu having heard it as well and taking up positions beside them.

"Who's there? !" Ren shouted into the dark forest. _"Show yourself!"_

The rustling increased in volume, as whatever was out there drew closer, and the four prepared for the worst.

And suddenly, out stepped someone that, at first glance, looked nothing like a Black Hand assassin. In fact, upon closer inspection, it more resembled a cross between a fox and a human…what Amaterasu quickly realized was a kitsune in its hybrid form, similar to what Alex took on whenever the spirit of Aku-Hametsu – Amunae – possessed him.

Even with her wolfish night vision, Amaterasu couldn't see the figure clearly, as though something were bending the faint moonlight around it and preventing her from getting a solid look…but she could at least tell by the curves and shape of its body that it was a female, and comparably skinnier than Alex's hybrid form.

She could also see that large bow that was clutched in her handpaw, and the arrow-filled quiver slung across her back.

"Fear not…" she spoke in a strong, confident voice, proving Amaterasu's deductions. "Only one who wishes the success of your mission resides in these woods."

"…That voice…" Ren suddenly mused, standing down and nodding to everyone else to do the same before he stepped forward. "…I would recognize that voice anywhere!"

Shifting into the fox-faced form he had taken in the underground city, Ren stepped forward and nodded to the stranger with a warm and somewhat relieved look in his eyes.

"Well met, Yunalesca…you've grown up."

"Inari above, _that's_ little Yunie?" Miyu suddenly gasped, immediately coming forward in her own fox-faced form. "Oh, my dear, you've grown _so much!_ How the years have gone by! You were just a little kit the last time I saw you!"

"And you've stayed just the same, Auntie Miyu," the one called Yunalesca stated, her masked face smiling warmly as she came forward and wrapped her arms around the necks of both kitsune. "It's so good to see both of you again! But what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

Ren's looks grew serious, and he muttered, "…See for yourself," before stepping aside and revealing the comatose Alex and a disheveled looking Amaterasu.

"By Inari…that wolf…is she who I think she is?" Yunalesca asked, awe tingeing her smooth voice.

"_Oui_…she is Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun," Waka spoke. "But she is not the reason why we are in need of assistance, Madame…Yunalesca, was it?"

"I can see that," the kitsune hybrid stated, threading her arm through her bow and stepping lightly towards Alex…but finding herself blocked off by Amaterasu.

"…_Are you certain we can trust her?"_ the wolf asked Ren, with no small hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Fear not, Amaterasu," Ren spoke up. "We have known Yunalesca since she had first opened her eyes as a kit. Aside from Miyu, there is no one in Nippon I trust more."

"…I am a healer of my tribe, Great One…" Yunalesca slowly said in her own defense. "I bring medicine and other curatives that may help him until I can give him more proper treatment."

The wolf stared hard at her for a moment, but concern for Alex eventually overrode her suspicion, and she slowly bowed her head before stepping aside.

Yunalesca nodded solemnly, moving past Amaterasu and crouching down next to Alex's prone body, taking her mask off and setting it down beside her.

Now that she was illuminated by the moonlight filtering into the clearing, Amaterasu could see that her only clothing consisted of a short, skin-tight leather vest that stopped just above her waist, along with similarly styled pants that ended right abover her knees, leaving her arms, belly, and most of her digitigrade legs exposed to the air…light, durable, and form-fitting clothing, likely for hiking, maneuverability, and hunting as well, given the way she was handling her bow.

Over all of this, a dark green travelling cloak was tied around her neck, the hood pulled up and holes cut in the top of it to allow her large fox ears to poke through. This left nothing else for the wolf to see, other than that her exposed fur seemed to be almost…_shimmering _in the faint moonlight. She still couldn't tell which color it was, however, even with the moonlight assisting her vision. She _could,_ however, see the intelligent blue-colored glow of her eyes, standing out visibly in the dark night.

She could also tell that with the way Yunalesca carried herself, she was obviously very experienced with this form…the form of a kitsune that appreciated the dexterous practicality of a human-like body, but also refused to give up the speed and strength of her kitsune heritage.

Looking over his wound and feeling over his broken left arm, while at the same time taking care not to injure him further with her claw-tipped fingers, Yunalesca clicked her tongue before going to the leather satchel at her waist and digging around in it before pulling out several small flasks of an unknown liquid and turning Alex over again.

"His injuries are too severe for me to heal here," she stated, popping the cork on one of them and gently dripping the liquid inside into his mouth, massaging his throat with her padded handpaws to make him swallow it. "He needs to be taken to my hut in the village, and this concoction will give him the strength to last the journey."

"And who among us will be the one to take him, hmm?" Waka asked everyone, sounding uncharacteristically serious for once, as though he actually cared about the situation at hand instead of being his normally aloof self. "If you did not hear our…er…'discussion' earlier, Mademoiselle, we still have yet to decide who will carry the poor young man."

"Don't worry…I will take him," Yunalesca stated, standing up straight and brushing her hands off.

"Are you entirely certain of that?" Ren asked her, stepping forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Keikai might think very differently than you on this subject. And not only that, but it could be a very dangerous journey…the men who injured Alex in the first place might very well come after you next."

"I do not fear them," she spoke with conviction. "In accordance with my tribe's once-honored heritage, I will protect him so long as I draw breath…and I _will_ convince my father otherwise on the matter. That, I can assure you."

Ren and Miyu looked to each other, as if silently conferring over the matter, before looking back to Yunalesca and nodding.

"…And such is a noble heritage, indeed," Miyu replied, coming forward and giving her a friendly hug. "Be safe, Yunalesca…and may the instincts of your ancestors guide you to the safest path."

Breaking the hold, the kitsune-hybrid nodded and, stepping back, quickly transformed in front of them all with a soft glimmer of light, revealing her true form to be that of a three-tailed fox, her size roughly equal to elbow-height of a grown man …and more than big enough to carry an armored human. Hoisting Alex onto her back and tying him down so that he wouldn't slip off, Waka finished quickly and stepped back with a nod of his own.

"Be careful, Mademoiselle…" the Frenchman spoke. "…he is very important, in more ways than one."

Again, to Amaterasu, it sounded as though Waka knew something that she did not. But that hardly mattered to her right now as her gaze met the kitsune's.

Amaterasu briefly considered giving Alex another dose of Rejuvenation, but she forced her tail to stay down. Alex was already close enough to the edge, so another dose could possibly strain his heart beyond repair. She had to force herself to accept that Alex was in good hands with Yunalesca…and if his "friends" trusted her, then she had no choice but to do so as well.

"_Just…do what you can to help him…"_ she finally whispered, unsure of what else to say.

"Don't worry…I will. You have my word, White One," the fox replied.

"We will meet you in the village when we catch up! Now get moving! _Go!_" Ren said.

Nodding to him, Yunalesca took off in a flurry of wind and scattering leaves, quickly disappearing into the dark forest and vanishing from sight.

"_Be strong, Alex…"_ Amaterasu whispered to herself, as she felt something terribly sad well up inside her chest. _"We _will_ see each other again…I promise you that."_

* * *

><p>She darted through the forest as quickly as a bounding deer, her paws carrying her forward at a speed few creatures of the forest could match. Even with the weight upon her back, her progress was not hampered, for she was a creature of power…power that defied the very laws of nature that other creatures found so limiting.<p>

She was strong. Agile. Free from most mortal inhibitions.

She was a kitsune of the River Tribe, innately connected to the world around her people's domain…a domain that she was racing to reach with all due haste, before the human she had taken into her care expired.

She would honor her people's heritage, even if it killed her. She would save him, no matter what.

Leaping over a rise in the terrain ahead of her, her three tails whipping about gracefully as she used them to counterbalance her weight and maintain balance on her prolonged dash, she landed with nary a thump as she sped along. Any creatures of the forest that saw her would only be able to spot a whitish blur passing through the trees, too quick for their eyes to catch.

She prayed that the creatures of the forest were the _only_ things that were spotting her.

Alas, it was not to be, for an arrow suddenly sliced out of the darkness and thudded into the tree barely a foot to her right as she raced by. Whipping her head about, her bright blue eyes immediately spotted several dark shapes moving through the trees at a pace that surprisingly matched hers…and they were drawing closer.

In a brief instant, they passed through a tiny clearing and moonlight was shed upon them.

Black Hand assassins, carrying bows and riding upon horses that were clearly not of this world, if the demonic red glow in their eyes and snarling sounds they were emanating were any indication.

Cursing her luck, Yunalesca poured more energy into her legs and kicked off the ground with a spray of dirt as her back paws dug in and launched her into a speed even _faster_ than what she had been going at. Feeling the wind howling past her large, sensitive ears, she veritably _tore _through the forest at an astounding speed, leaving the assassins in the dust as the trees flew past her with nary an inch to spare between them.

Her lungs began to scream at her to stop this breakneck pace, but the weight upon her back and the thudding of hooves nearly right behind her forced her to keep sprinting ahead. Ignoring the sound of arrows whipping past her, knowing that they'd never be able to hit her at this speed, she began to listen for the sound of the flowing river that served as the boundary to her people's domain.

Once she made it past the river, her people would protect them.

Redirecting her path and finding her way onto a familiar trail that she had followed hundreds of times, she could hear both the sound of the river ahead and the thudding of hooves behind, as the assassins drew ever closer, their horses refusing to tire as the demonic energies in their bodies spurred them on.

She couldn't lose them…and she most certainly wouldn't lead these monsters straight to her home.

That left her with only one option: fight them off. But she wouldn't be doing it alone if she could help it…

She felt the sudden flow of cold water around her paws, and heard the splashing as she ran through it, before quickly pulling into a skidding stop on the bank. The river lay before her, shallow, but as wide as the trees around her were tall. She could see the moonlight glittering upon its surface, a strangely peaceful addition to an otherwise tense situation…and a sight that she never grew tired of, no matter how many times she saw it.

Hearing the assassins' horses approaching, she quickly got back on track and began splashing her way through the river, the water reaching up her legs and wetting the fur on her belly as she quickly made her way across. Reaching the opposite bank and shaking herself off, she turned just in time to see the group of mounted assassins charge into the open…and come to a sudden stop as their mounts balked at the sight of the running water and reared up, their riders struggling to maintain control.

They could sense a power beyond the river that their riders could not, she could clearly see.

She made a quick count of their numbers – about five in all – as she turned and raised her head to the night sky…

And uttered a keening cry to the heavens, one of the many fox calls that she had known since she had been born…a cry that she had not been taught, but _already knew_ from the instinctual knowledge of her ancestors.

"Stop that wailing and face us, she-fox!" one of the assassins (apparently the leader of the bunch) yelled from the opposite end of the river, pointing his finger at her like he was a king giving a declaration. "Give us the boy or suffer dire consequences!"

(_NieR OST – Kaine Escape_)

The assassins were spoiling for a fight, and she would have no choice but to give them one. Reaching back with her head, she bit into the bindings tying the young man to her back and quickly tore them free, letting the human down gently before turning back to face the interlopers on her people's land.

"You want him? !" she snarled back powerfully, shifting to her hybrid form with a glimmer of light, drawing her bow, and nocking an arrow to it as she raised it up. "Then come and get him!"

The assassins made to advance with their horses, but the demonic animals wouldn't budge from their spot. With an irritated curse, the lead assassin leapt off his mount and drew his obsidian blade, the rest of them following suit as they waded into the knee-deep river and advanced on the two.

Yunalesca stared down the shaft of the arrow, feeling the wooden press of her bow against the pads on her handpaw, smoothed down from its constant usage. It was one of her most prized possessions, and her most reliable weapon of choice.

Skill born from years of practice and use would ensure that she didn't miss.

Loosing the string from her clawed fingertips, the arrow launched from the bow with barely a whisper of sound as it sliced through the air, over the river current, and straight through the skull mask of lead assassin, his head snapping back as the projectile split his skull and knocked him backwards into the river. The others stopped for just a moment, staring at the lifeless body of their former comrade as the current began to carry it downstream, before looking back to her and continuing their advance.

With a smooth, graceful motion, she drew and nocked another arrow, firing again and catching one of the assassins in the leg, his pained shout preceding the loud splash as he fell to his knees and grabbed at the limb in question.

She moved to draw another arrow, but the other assassins, now running at her as fast as they could, were almost upon her. Bending her legs as one of them charged her with a wild yell, she suddenly darted forward faster than he could _ever_ anticipate, and before he even knew it, the arrow that had been in her hand was now protruding from his side, having been used impromptu dagger of sorts by the kitsune hybrid who was now moving among them. Taking her bow across the wood in both hands, she suddenly threaded the stunned assassin's arm through the crook between the taut string and the wood and yanked down, bending his arm around and bringing it down far enough for her to stomp down on it with her powerful, sinewy leg, causing a loud _CRACK_ to echo through the forest as the assassin howled in pain and fell to the ground.

Letting go of her bow and grabbing up the assassin's loose weapon, she shoved him forward straight into the unwitting arms of one of his comrades, the man cursing and heaving him aside…just in time to see a blur of white fur whip past the assassin ahead of him, Yunalesca darting forward with rapid, measured steps and stabbing the assassin's stolen sword straight into his comrade's gut.

The assassin doubled over the weapon, gripping at it in his pain, but even with such a grievous injury, he wasn't done yet. Grabbing at the knife on his belt, he made to raise it up and stab in down into her face, but she was far too quick for that. In the blink of an eye, she let go of the blade and immediately spun, dragging her tails through the river and sending a cascade of moonlit water straight into his face, stunning him long enough for her to grab the razor-sharp hunting knife on her belt and dart forward, slicing it across his throat as she flew by and stopped on the opposite side of him. With a gurgling sound, the stubborn assassin finally dropped into the river, the water staining red but quickly flowing away with the current and leaving no trace behind.

As it should be, she thought.

That left three down, one wounded, and one still standing…but she hadn't counted on the fact that the latter had been the one firing arrows at her, which she realized when she heard the distinctive sound of creaking wood behind her as the arrow was drawn and aimed straight at the back of her head.

_THWACK!_

The assassin twitched as though he had been struck…and he stared at her in open-mouthed surprise, the bow falling from his hands before he slowly tilted forward and splashed face-first into the river, an arrow protruding from his back.

"_Lady Yuna!"_ she heard a voice call out, as the figure it belonged to emerged from the forest on the side of the river that her people's domain was on. Retrieving her bow, she turned to face the figure and touched her index and middle fingers to her forehead in a form of greeting. It was one of the guards that stood vigil over the boarders to their land; out of sight, but ever-watchful for intruders, especially in these dangerous times.

"I came as soon as I heard your cry. Are you hurt, my lady?" he asked, coming forward, the trailing edge of his light blue kimono getting wet from the river as he drew another arrow and fitted it to the sting in case of more danger.

"Oh, sweet Yami, this hurts!"

Both kitsune turned to look at the assassin still on his knee in the river, the arrow protruding from his right leg preventing him from standing or defending himself any further.

"No…but there are some who are," she stated, looking back to the guard. "The human, by the bank of the river…I'm taking him into the village."

"W-what? !" the guard stammered. "But, my lady, you know the rules of your father! If you bring an outsider into the village-!"

"My father will _not_ banish his only daughter!" she snarled, making the guard immediately stand down. "I have been tasked with helping this poor soul, and I will not rest until he is safe!"

"Y-yes, my lady…" the guard muttered submissively, before gesturing to the lone assassin. "…And what of him?"

She stared at the man, who was still favoring the wound in his leg, before reaching down and hauling him up by the collar with one hand, and grabbing the arrow in his leg with the other, prompting a pained yelp from him.

"You who walks in the shadows!" she snarled, bringing his face close to hers. "If you value your life, you will not speak a single word of what has transpired this night! If you do, I will personally track you down and flay the very soul from your body! _Am I understood?"_

"To the Land of Darkness with you, _bitch!"_ he growled back, which immediately turned into another pained howl as she twisted the arrow in his leg and made the wound that much worse.

"You were saying?" she asked coyly, a malicious smile working its way onto her face.

"_Grrr…_fine! I…will not speak of this…to anyone!" he growled angrily, the eyes behind his mask narrowed in a mixture of pain and contempt.

Another pained groan split that air as she swiftly yanked the arrow out of his leg and dropped him back into the river.

"Leave this place and _never return!"_ she bellowed at him, and he wasted no time in following directions, scrambling to his feet and limping off as fast as he could. All of the demon horses had bolted in the commotion, leaving the poor man to fend for himself as he disappeared into the darkness on foot.

"My lady, with all due respect…was that entirely wise?" the guard asked gently. "What if he returns to his leaders and they find out about this place?"

"If that arrow wound becomes infected, he'll never make it that far…" she said, brushing her handpaws off and heading back across the river. "…and that is taking into account that nothing in the forest gets him first."

"…By your word then, my lady."

Shifting back into her fox form, she hoisted Alex's limp form onto her back with the guard's aid, before he transformed as well and walked up beside her.

"My lady, if I may speak freely…"

"You may."

"Lady Yuna…you will not be able to hide him from your father forever. He WILL discover his presence in the village eventually, and when he does-"

"When he does, I will convince him otherwise. The rest is no concern of yours," she stated matter-of-factly.

"…Yes, my lady."

With that, she darted off into the woods, heading straight for the home of the Kawa Tribe…the village on the river.

The realm of the River Kitsune.

* * *

><p><strong>I think I'm gonna have fun writing out more of Yunalesca in the future...also, I've got an OC picture of her already on my profile page! Be sure to check it out!<br>**

**On that note, I've also been getting in some new fanart for SitM as well. If you're interested in seeing that as well, I've separated the OC pics and fanart into two different sections for your convenience. Be sure to check them out as well, and I'll see you next time!  
><strong>


	37. Figments

**Chapter 35: Figments**

Sunlight on his back and shoulders.

A warm summer breeze against his face.

The feel of grass beneath his feet as he raced through a sweeping field of rolling green hills, broken only by the occasionally stone and rocky outcropping.

But it wasn't just a leisurely jog…it was a full-pelt run, at a speed he once thought was beyond his human frame.

No longer, for he was not limited by such things anymore…he was a _wolf_ now.

Wild. Noble. _Free._

The beat of his four paws against the grassy ground came as rapidly as his heartbeat, his strong and powerful body refusing to give in to the restraints of stamina and energy. Nothing could stop what he had become now, for he had become more powerful than even _he_ could ever imagine.

His body was perfect. _Flawless_. Unrestrained and unhindered.

Spotting a small lake ahead, its waters glistening gently in the light of the midday sun, Wolf-Alex slowly cantered to a stop and bent down to take a drink. Even after his run, his breath came smoothly and evenly, his stamina far greater than it had ever been when he was a human. But even so, the cool water still felt good running down his throat and dripping off his muzzle.

Yes, he had a muzzle now, as he looked at his own reflection in the water. His deep brown eyes stared back at him, from a face that he still vaguely recognized despite the changes. Dark grey fur covered the majority of his body, while his muzzle, chest, and underbelly were covered with stark white fur. His legs had grey fur covering them for the most part, with the exception of his paws, which gave way to more white fur. Looking back, he could also see that his tail was also tipped in white, much like Amaterasu's was tipped in black.

In some ways, he looked almost opposite of the white wolf...somewhat, but not completely, he smugly thought to himself.

That was when he heard the howl off in the distance, carried to him on the breeze as his wolf ears perked up at the sound.

It was calling his name…beckoning him closer, in the direction it had come from.

(_Wolf's Rain OST – Rain of Blossoms_)

In a flash, he was off again, marveling at his newfound strength and stamina even as he tore across the fields and weaved in between the hills of this endless plain of jade green grass. The howl reached his ears again, noticeably closer this time, and he quickened his pace.

Cresting the hilltop ahead of him, he immediately saw the source of it.

Amaterasu.

The moment she came into view, he skidded to a stop, unable to do anything but stand there and stare, his mouth agape.

She was waiting for him atop the highest part of a large outcropping of rock, using it as a post with which to call out to him. Her head was upraised to the sky as she howled her wolf song towards the heavens, and the hauntingly beautiful notes seemed to twist through the air like the wind sweeping across the plain.

In the light of the midday sun high above, her white fur almost seemed to glow as it caught the sunbeams filtering down, her pristine reflector upon her back and burning brightly with divine flames as it always had. Her red stripes made her stand out among all the other colors of the world around her, making her instantly recognizable against the shades of green, blue, and grey. And her deep amber eyes…even with the light obscuring her form, he could see the color of her intelligent eyes staring back at him, meeting his gaze as he continued to gape at her.

The howling came to an end…and she smiled at him. Hopping down from rock to rock until she reached the ground again and ran towards him, Alex felt his own paws moving as he began to run as well.

There, in between the hill and the rocks, the two wolves met face to face.

"…Ammy?" he heard himself ask, perfectly understanding himself even though he technically had no actual voice due to the lack of proper vocal cords.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she responded warmly, coming up to him and sitting down in front of him.

It was the first time he had actually heard her voice anywhere besides within his mind, and the sudden clarity of it surprised him.

"Well…uh…maybe?" he responded sheepishly, sitting down as well, surprised again with how naturally the movements came to him. "I…wasn't expecting anyone in particular, actually, mostly because I have no idea where we are."

He looked to his left and his right at these words, but nothing met his gaze except the same endless plain…a plain that reminded him of a similar one, except for the lack of a single tree.

But as quickly as the memory came to him, it suddenly disappeared…like dust carried away by the wind.

He couldn't recall what he was thinking about, and decided to forget about it.

"Don't worry," Ammy spoke to him, smiling again as she stepped a little closer towards him. "As long as I'm here, you have nothing to worry about, right?"

Her beautiful amber gaze was so sweet, he wanted nothing more than to agree with here right then and there…

…but at the same time, something seemed…_off._ He couldn't place his finger on it, but he kept getting the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something that he shouldn't be.

"Am I right, Alexander?" she asked insistently.

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked back to her…right before she moved even closer to him, until their muzzles were almost touching, her half-lidded eyes staring right into his wide-open ones with a captivating gaze that refused to let go.

"Uh…y-yeah…I-I guess…um…" was all he managed to stammer out, before he felt the tip of her black nose against his own.

It was a very odd sensation for him, experiencing what could have ranged anywhere between a slightly romantic gesture to a full-on kiss among wolves…but at the same time, it sent a tingling sensation down his spine all the way to the very tip of his tail, electrifying his senses as he stood there in complete and utter shock. He was certain that if it wasn't for the fur covering his muzzle and face, there would be a beet red blush covering it right now.

And suddenly, he felt something within the confines of his mind…something that was buried, and felt like it was desperately struggling to free itself.

It couldn't totally break free, but it was enough to make him step back away from Ammy as he shook his head and looked down at the ground. She seemed somewhat perplexed by this action, and cocked her head at him questioningly as he struggled to get his composure back.

"Ammy…" he finally began, sounding shaky (but not entirely regretful) over what had just transpired.

"What is it, Alex?" she asked, that same sweet tone never leaving her voice.

"…what about Oki?"

She gave him another perplexed look, shortly before she leaned forwards and asked, "What _about_ Oki?"

He meant to respond to her, but the moment her gaze caught his again, the thought suddenly disappeared from his mind…just like the first one had.

"…Nothing. I…uh…forgot."

Before he could react, he felt the same sensation as she pressed her nose against his again, smiling sweetly all the while.

(_Wolf's Rain OST – My Little Flower_)

"Then why are you acting so sheepish, hmm?" she asked him, before suddenly breaking the contact and doing an about-face before darting off.

"Come on, silly! Try and catch me!" she called over her shoulder to him, laughing all the while as she ran away.

Feeling an odd sort of thrill that seemed to be born more of wolfish instinct rather than his own conscious mind, he immediately gave chase as a lupine smile began to find its way onto his own face, his tongue lolling comedically out of the side of his mouth as he quickly matched her speed and began pushing himself to catch up to her.

Together, the two wolves ran over, around, and through the sweeping hills of the green plain, never slowing for an instant as their chase took them across a vast and entirely uncared for length of ground. The whole time, Amaterasu kept throwing glances back at him, to see how close he was before adjusting her speed accordingly in order to pull ahead or to let him catch up.

Even with his newfound speed, Amaterasu was much faster than him he realized, the goddess truly superior in every way as she led him around. The world around them seemed to come alive at the passing of the two wolves, as the grass rustled pleasantly and the wind danced delightfully through it all as it spurred the two of them on.

Finally, Alex saw his chance to catch the goddess as she ran up to a single large stone atop another hill and barked a friendly taunt at him. Racing up there to catch her, he angled off in order to try and circle around the other side so as to catch her from behind. As he anticipated, she began running in the same circular direction in order to match his position on the other side of the stone, prompting him to stop and attempt to reverse direction.

She did the same, and he repeated the maneuver more quickly, until they were both leaning every which way in order to fake the other out. Seeing his opportunity, Alex quickly lunged in one direction…and Amaterasu mistakenly went the same way, allowing him to cut her off and plant his nose into her side, playfully knocking her over as a surprised squeak escaped her. Both of them tumbled messily down the side of the hill, Alex getting his paws underneath him first and springing into the air to land atop her and pin her down, putting an effective end to their little game.

When he tried to pin her, however, he found himself very greatly surprised…for he no longer had paws, but his own two hands. He was human again, dressed in the same sweater and jeans he had been in when he had first come to Nippon.

Then he realized with a start that _she was human also._

Her flowing head of pure white hair was splayed messily upon the ground, and her pale skin was covered in the same divine red markings that she had as a wolf, matching perfectly into the designs of her white and red kimono. Her auburn eyes, still wolfish despite her sudden transformation, stared into his as she smiled, the young man still pinning her down with his hands on her shoulders.

"_Oh my god…"_ he thought, staring at her and at a complete loss for words. _"She's…she's beautiful…"_

She seemed amused by the stunned look upon his face, as she reached a hand up and placed it affectionately against his cheek, her cool touch bringing a sense of calm with it as she soothed the roiling emotions within him.

"Alex…would you like to stay with me? Forever?" she asked.

The question was posed to him so simply…and in the far back of his mind, he faintly realized just how easy it would have been to say yes to her right then and there.

But something stopped him. The words were trying their absolute hardest to claw their way out of his throat…but for the life of him, he just couldn't do it.

"Ammy…I…" he began, but she put a finger against his lips to quiet him as she smiled at him again.

"You don't have to say a word…" she said.

Gently sliding her hand over the back of his head, running her fingers through his black hair, she began easing his face towards hers.

"…just let your actions do the talking for you."

This was it, he realized, as her face drew closer and a blush began to form on his face. The big moment. The point of no return in their relationship. He either committed to it, or he didn't.

And everything was screaming at him to commit. His heart wanted it, his mind wanted it, and hell, even his _spirit_ wanted it.

Slowly, he closed his eyes as he waited for the inevitable contact of their lips…

…something that would seal the deal and make him _hers _forever.

"_You've taken your eyes off the ball!"_

The thought suddenly broke through the haze that he hadn't even realized had come over his mind, and he jerked his head back, utterly ruining the moment as the human Ammy opened her eyes and scowled slightly at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked…but he wasn't listening at the moment.

"_What?"_

"_You took your eyes off the ball, Alex! You gotta keep track of where it is if you're ever gonna play baseball with the big kids!"_

"_Aw, dad, can't we just play catch? This bat's _heavy!_"_

"_Come on, just give it another try! Who knows, maybe you'll make it into the big leagues!"_

"Alex?"

"I…I don't…know…" he slowly replied, trying to shake it off.

But the memory refused to go away. It was coming from somewhere deeper in his mind…somewhere more established and stubborn…something that was breaking through to the surface and releasing all sorts of other memories along with it.

"_Ok, this time, just keep your eyes on the ball and don't blink if you can help it. At the very least, you might be able to dink it with that bat!"_

"_But daaaaad!"_

"_Here it comes, now! Get ready!"_

Suddenly, it all came back to him in a flash, a heavy torrent that caused pain to spike in his skull and suddenly made him smack a hand to his face as he struggled to comprehend it.

His first time meeting Oki.

Finding out about the Oina man's relationship with Ammy.

Finding out why he was trying so hard to find her…

Because he wasn't just a friend trying to get in touch…he _loved_ her, and just didn't have the guts to say it to her face.

"Alex?!" Ammy said again, sounding more worried this time as he pushed away from her and stood up, walking off and suddenly stumbling as the memories kept pouring into his consciousness.

The time in the caves below the Gale Shrine…when he finally realized the feelings he was developing for the wolf goddess.

His attempts to rationalize with himself…to keep himself from doing something that would damage the relationship between Ammy and Oki. Between _him_ and Oki.

Telling himself that it just wouldn't work…over and over and over.

_Think! You're a human and she's a wolf! On top of that, she's a freaking _goddess_ too! And even more, Oki's already got his eye on her! You can't just step in between them! You're better than that, dammit!_

_The two of you are just friends…nothing else._

He felt her hand on his shoulder, as she came up behind him.

"Alex…what's wrong?" she asked him.

He slowly looked over at her…but it wasn't concern that he saw in her eyes. It wasn't the same kind of emotion that the real, caring Amaterasu would have.

All he saw in her eyes was _him_…his reflection, and nothing else but an empty shell of what the real Ammy was.

It almost surprised him how he knew this all of the sudden…but that thought hardly concerned him as he reached up and took her hand off his shoulder.

"…Sorry, Ammy…I…I…_can't._"

Her gaze never left his…and she slowly reached out to try and touch his face again.

He stopped her hand with his own, and shook his head slowly.

"…I just can't," he whispered.

Before she could tempt him further, he turned and began walking away.

No words or body language…he just kept walking.

And as the distance between them increased, he half-expected her to call out his name, to come running after him in some desperate last attempt to make him stay…perhaps even manically so, to grab onto him and never let go while screaming at him all the while to love her forever.

But there was nothing now.

No wind…no grass…no rolling hills or brilliant blue sky. No thoughts, emotions, or feelings.

…and no Ammy either, when he finally decided to look back.

All just a figment…fading into an endless sea of white.

Shrugging, he put his hands in his pockets and just kept walking.

For minutes.

Hours.

Days, even?

And there was nothing…nothing but an endless sea of white.

And his shadow, mimicking every move he made. The only thing here besides him, on a plane of separate existence.

Stopping his walk, as if just now noticing his shadow, Alex stared at it over his shoulder, before slowly turning and facing it.

Crouching down, he pondered it for a moment, before slowly reaching out a hand and brushing it against the surface his shadow was on.

…It rippled…like a puddle of water.

Were shadows supposed to do that? He couldn't remember.

He couldn't remember anything.

Pulling his hand away, he noticed that the substance his shadow was apparently made of now was coming away with it, sticking to it like some kind of liquid.

Not only that, but it was moving on its own now.

…That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all.

He remembered that now…and with that knowledge, he suddenly remembered a lot more.

Like the emotions of surprise and fear.

Finally coming back to his senses, Alex stood up and began backing away, his shadow staying exactly where it was as the substance inside it began to roil furiously, splattering out onto the white surface around it and _moving on its own._ As it spread, it began to take on a shape, bulging outward from its point of origination and flowing up into the air.

It was _ink_, Alex realized, as the memories kept coming back…as this strange place he was trapped in continued to feed them back to him.

Now forming a giant mass in the air, bigger than Alex thought it would get, the young man began to sense danger and went for Aku-Hametsu on his back…but the sword wasn't there. Neither were the Fox-Fire Beads on his wrist, nor Sakuya's Blossom or Ammy's Spirit Globe in the pouch at his waist. There was nothing but the clothes on his back. Not even his armor was here to help him.

The bulging mass of ink began to take on a more refined form as it hovered in the air, forming distinguishable shapes…and before long, he could spot an inky depiction of some kind of giant jagged, perhaps rocky platform, complete with a Japanese archway and a single mighty bell hanging down from it.

The moment he saw these things, he knew what it was, and his blood ran cold.

Eight long tendrils suddenly burst forth from the floating "rock" platform, ink dripping off of them and splattering onto the whiteness like paint on a fresh canvas. The liquid seemed to shift and churn furiously for a moment, and Alex could soon see the liquidy depiction of scales, spikes…and dragon-like heads, complete with helmets that all bore an insignia of some kind.

Orochi.

As soon as they were done forming, all eight heads turned towards Alex, and the young man took another step back as fear gripped him in its icy embrace.

"_Well, well…what do we have here? Another spirit on the way to its eternal paradise?"_ the inky demon gurgled with all of its eight voices in his mind.

"No…_no_…you can't…it's not…" Alex whispered almost desperately, shaking his head in disbelief as Orochi glowered at him.

"_Fool!" _the mighty demon cackled, advancing slowly on him. _"Did you think I could not follow you here, to the world between worlds? To the realm where only spirits may tread?"_

One of the inky head suddenly stretched and looped around behind Alex, cutting off any form of escape, as the seven others formed up right around him, staring at him with their crushingly powerful gazes. Even though they were made of ink, Alex could still sense the incredible power within each of them, and could still feel the demon's hot, reeking breath as though he were actually right there.

But he _couldn't_ be right there…could he?

Was this a dream, or reality? Was this just another specter of Orochi…or something more dangerous?

Like it mattered, he realized with another pang of fear. Orochi's specter in the Gale Shrine could have killed him easily were it not for Ammy intervening. But this time, the wolf wasn't here to save him.

No one was.

"_I can smell your fear, mortal…"_ the demon rumbled. _"…a fear born from a lack of understanding. You have no idea where this place is, do you?"_

Alex, now almost paralyzed in his horror, could only manage a very unsteady shake of his head.

"_Then allow me to…_enlighten_ you…"_ the demon chuckled darkly, before a black tentacle of ink suddenly formed in front of the young man's face…

…and speared itself straight into his gut, before he could react.

The relative silence of this plain of existence was broken by a strangled gasp of pain, Alex doubling over and falling to his knees, the whole time staring at the offending appendage in shock as the skin around it took on a black, veiny appearance straight out of a horror movie.

He felt…_something._ Something being pulled from him…pulled from his _mind,_ he realized with horror, as a searing bolt of pain suddenly lanced through his head and tore down the front of his body, all the way to the inky tentacle embedded in his gut and out through it.

"_Now then…let us put an end to your confusion. Watch and learn, mortal…" _the demon hissed, yanking the appendage out of Alex's gut and making him cry out in pain again as he lurched forward to his hands and knees, panting heavily as he fought to catch his breath.

In the meantime, another blob of ink hit the ground in front of him and began to move…to become a moving picture of ink against the pure white canvas of the empty world around him.

He saw…two shapes, one big and one small, in a battle of some kind. The big one had the other by the hair, while small one held a hidden weapon of some kind. He jammed it into the upper leg of the shape holding him, making the other let go…but only momentarily, for in the next instant, the big figure took his knife and jammed it into the smaller one's back, making it stiffen before falling to the ground as his opponent stood victoriously over him.

It was vaguely familiar…and then it hit him.

The big figure was the assassin…Kurenai…and the smaller one…

…the smaller one had been _him._

But…that meant…

"_Do you see it now?" _Orochi hissed amusedly._ "You are DEAD, mortal! Your life was stolen from you the moment his blade went into your back!"_

One of the heads circled down to come up right next to his face, and snorted as if in disdain.

"…_or, at least, you WOULD be, if that accursed wolf hadn't intervened with those oh-so-annoying 'brush techniques' of hers," _he grumbled.

Alex could only stare at him, confusion marking his features.

"_I know that you remember HER, at least, if that little dream of yours was any indication,"_ Orochi growled at him, as several more heads formed up around him. _"I was rather interested to see how you viewed your 'friend', mortal…and I am curious…do you, perhaps, care for her?"_

Alex didn't answer, and the demon's inky visage grew smug in nature.

"…_or, dare I say…LOVE her?"_

Out of nowhere, something suddenly flared up in Alex, and despite his weakness, he felt his hand form into a fist and lash out in a punch aimed straight for the demon's scaly ink-nose.

_SPLAT!_

The punch connected squarely with the inky demon, but the only effect it seemed to have was splattering more ink onto the ground nearby. Still, that didn't stop Alex from getting an increasingly angry glare on his face as he shakily began to stand up, both hands clenched into fists and trembling as he began to remember…

The emotion of _anger._

"If you touch her…I swear to God, I'll kill you!" he growled through clenched teeth.

"_Ahh…remembering more of what you left behind, hmm? No doubt anger you felt during your battle with the assassin…"_ the demon chuckled, withdrawing his many heads. _"Well, now that you seem to have at least a small grasp on the situation at hand…and your impending doom…I see no reason to carry on with this anymore."_

Before Alex could react, more of the inky black tentacles lashed out from Orochi's form and wrapped around him in a crushing hold, lifting him up as his frightened yells split the air.

"_How tragic…Amaterasu went to SUCH lengths to avenge you, and even more to save you. How tragic it will be, to see her crying over your lifeless corpse when she arrives to find that the irritating little fox who attempted to revive you had failed!" _he cackled, as he brought the struggling Alex closer to his many faces. _"It has been so long since I last tasted the soul of an up-and-coming young hero, just entering the prime of his life, only to be cut down!"_

Alex stained with all his might, but it wasn't enough…his soul just wasn't strong enough to resist Orochi, a demon who had killed and devoured many more before him, and become almost god-like in status because of it.

"_Now to finish the job! Your soul is MINE, MORTAL!" _he roared, his maws all opening wide as they moved in to tear his spirit to pieces.

Right before they struck…he had a moment of clarity.

Everything slowed down to a crawl, as the moment of truth came upon him.

Calm…serene…_beautiful, _even with such a horrifying sight before him.

"_This is it…"_ he thought.

"_I'm going to die…or something worse, if Orochi has a say in it…"_

In the face of _everything,_ he quietly laughed to himself, as a tiny smile appeared on his face…

"_Heh…well…I had one hell of a run, at least. Two demons down…Ammy can deal with the rest of them herself. She's more than strong enough…I just helped her out a bit is all."_

Images of the white wolf came to mind, of their first meeting in the Tsuta Ruins, of the sunset they spent beneath the Konohana Tree as he told her about where he had come from.

Of Oki, the Oina Warrior, who had saved him, trained him, and taught him how to fend for himself against the demons.

Of Issun, the irritating poncle who never seemed to shut up. At all.

And of Amunae…how could he _possibly_ describe Amunae, or even Ren and Miyu, all of the kitsune who had appeared to him and helped him in his times of need?

"…_At least I got to spend time with some incredible people…I can die knowing _that_, at least…"_

Time slowly sped up again, and Orochi's heads resumed their lunge towards him as he closed his eyes and waited for them to consume his soul.

_FWOOSH!_

Alex felt a sudden wave of heat around him, and opening his eyes just in the nick of time, he saw a bolt of blue flame suddenly appear and explode in the air before him. The separating gouts of flame struck Orochi's heads in the mouths and faces, casing the demon to shriek and roar as they all began to spaz out wildly in surprise and fury.

Alex felt the inky tentacles loosen their hold, and he slid out from between them as he fell towards the ground…but moments before he hit the ground, something caught him in midair. Something strong.

Hitting the ground, the figure immediately let go of him and threw him forwards, causing Alex to stumble as his feet hit the ground unexpectedly. Catching his balance, Alex whipped around to see who had saved him…and immediately caught sight of silvery, waist-length hair flowing out in some unseen wind, atop the head of a surprisingly young looking man.

_Amunae._

"Thank the gods, I've finally found you!" the kitsune said, stepping up to him.

"W-what…?!" Alex gasped. "What are you doing here?! How did you-?!"

Amunae suddenly grabbed his left shoulder and held his right hand up in front of the young man's face.

"There's no time to explain!" he quickly spoke, and before Alex could say anything else, the fox-human jammed his index and middle fingers into the young man's forehead and powerfully spoke, "By the strength of my spiritual heritage, I command you, lost soul! _RETURN!"_

"Amuane-! _What are you doing?!"_ Alex yelled, but already, he felt that same sensation of being pulled away as the fox let go of him and seemed to get further away. _"Amunae!"_

"_ERRRRGHHH! Damn you, fox! How DARE you interfere!"_ Orochi roared, turning towards the fox-human as the fox-human turned away from Alex.

"_AMUNAE!"_ Alex bellowed, before everything went dark again.

* * *

><p>A sudden gasp of air, strangled and choked as he coughed and convulsed in the sudden lance of pain up his back.<p>

He tried to get up, tried to fight his way towards something that he could understand in this moment of pain, fear, and survival instinct. But he couldn't. His limbs felt weak, and barely responded to him. His breath came too raggedly for him to do anything but lie there, in the semi-darkness that he had awoken in.

But there was something worse…something that refused to ebb with the pain and confusion.

_The thirst._

His throat felt incredibly parched, dry beyond a point he thought it was capable of reaching. It was like he had been thirsting for days on end without reprieve.

He needed water. He needed it _now!_

Tilting his head to check his surroundings through his bleary, half-lidded eyes, he noticed that he was inside something, some kind of dwelling, filled almost to the brim with things that were just beyond his sight range in the dark.

Not just dark…_nighttime._ He could hear crickets, the rustle of grass in the wind, the cool caress of the air filtering in from wherever the entrance was. He was finally out of the cave…but he had no idea where he was now.

Unable to see more from the angle his head was at, he slowly, gently, _painfully_ twisted his body around…and discovered something surprising: his left arm was in a splint, and there was a piece of cloth around both it and his neck, to hold it in place close to his body.

He was suspended in some kind of hammock from the looks of it, his armor gone as the exposed skin on his chest proved. From what little he could feel in his pain and thirst-hazed state, he could also tell that the lower half of his body had been de-armored as well, everything but his chest and splinted arm covered by a think warm blanket of some kind.

Finally completing the turn, his back and arm throbbing painfully, he finally saw what he needed: a wooden jug, surrounded by smaller wooden cups of some kind, on a small table right next to him.

Even though it was only a foot or two away, it seemed like a mile when compared against his painfully aching body. Letting off a quiet gasp as he instinctively tried to move his left arm first, he remembered that it would be useless to him in a situation like this…so he tried with his right. Rolling onto his back again, he gritted his teeth and let off another pained sound as he stretched with his right arm, nearly falling out of the hammock in the process.

But he didn't care. He needed something to drink, and it was _right there_.

His fingers cleared the edge of the table, and danced around as he fought to get a hold on the jug, knocking the wooden cups off in his increasing desperation.

Barely grazing the edge of the jug's handle, they almost managed to close around it…before accidentally tipping it over and sending the life-giving liquid plummeting towards the ground.

Right before it hit, something caught it.

It happened so fast, he almost didn't see it…but now, he realized that someone was in here with him.

Alex, already too tired to continue, let his aching arm hang down in his exhaustion and watched the shrouded figure as it set the jug back down on the table, reached down to retrieve one of the cups, and poured some of the liquid into it. Turning to him, it extended a hand and gently touched his as it brought it back up from its hanging position.

The contact made him shiver…it was soft, slightly leathery on the palm, and felt like it was covered in…fur?

Whoever this person was, they weren't human, from what he could feel.

As the figure brought his hand back up, it placed the wooden cup in his grasp and gently eased both of them towards his mouth, tipping the liquid into it and finally allowing him to drink.

One taste immediately told him that it wasn't water, but that hardly mattered to him at this point. He gulped it down with as much strength as he could muster, trying to get more out of it but failing as the hand guiding his own held it back. When the cup was empty, the figure pulled it out of his hand and moved to refill it, giving it back to him and gently guiding the liquid down his parched throat again.

After this process was repeated several times, he finally let his still-working arm drop back to his side and breathed heavily as his lungs tried to catch up with the air lost while drinking.

Several minutes passed, in which the throbbing in his back and arm slowly began to die down…before he finally managed to ask in a ragged and whispery voice, "Who…are…you?"

The figure seemed to ponder him for a moment, before going over to some other part of the hut. Alex could hear the sound of water splashing slightly, before the figure returned to him and gently laid a wet rag across his forehead.

"W-where…where am I..?" he whispered again.

The figure leaned forward, and Alex could barely see the outline of some kind of mask floating in the dark above him.

…a kitsune mask?

"_Shhh…"_ a smooth, female voice gently cooed to him, as the figure it belonged to lay a hand atop his head. _"You are safe…among friends and allies…"_

The contact brought a feeling of gentle comfort with it…like she was curing his injuries with just a simple touch.

"But…w-where…Ammy…where's…" he continued, before he felt a finger upon his lips…and the gentle press of the claw it was tipped with, but not intending to harm…

"_She is safe. You will see her when you awake…but for now, you must sleep."_

"But…who…"

"_Rest now…sleep…" _she whispered in his ear, continuing to gently pet his hair in a soft, reassuring manner.

"…_sleep…"_

As though of their own accord, his eyelids slid closed…and before long, his breathing had slowed to a gentle rhythm.

Slowly standing, as though not to wake him, she gave the young man one last inquisitive look…pinched the blanket between two of her clawed fingers and gently pulled it back to see the massive cauterized scar along his side.

"…_Who are you, Alexander Grey?"_

Quietly padding out of the hut, she pushed aside the covering on the door and emerged into the cool night…and into the sight of Ren, Miyu, all of their children, Waka, and Amaterasu, all of them waiting outside of her hut and immediately perking up the moment they saw her come out.

"…Well?" Waka was the first to ask.

Yunalesca stared each of them in the eye, as if to gauge their reactions, and nodded slowly.

"The medicine has worked…" she sighed tiredly, finally allowing her own exhaustion to catch up with her. "He will survive."

* * *

><p><strong>(Yeah, I decided to move the author's note down here so as to keep the immersion of the beginning part of the chapter clean and free of distractions. I hope that helped a bit.)<strong>

**But yeah, anyways...EARLY CHAPTER! *shot dead*  
><strong>

**I kinda figured that, to be fair, I should make this chapter a little early in order to make up for the fact that the last one (which was resolving a cliffhanger) was updated after the usual two weeks, instead of being early like I said I'd do with cliffhanger-resolution chapters. Hope you enjoyed it!  
><strong>

**Rate, review, check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time.  
><strong>

**UPDATE (10-17-2021): For those of you wondering where chapter 36 is, check my dA journal (link is on my profile page) for some info regarding that. No, it's not a hiatus alert. I'm just experiencing some delays.  
><strong>


	38. Tears of the Goddess

**And after a week-long delay, chapter 36 of Steel in the Moonlight is here! Sorry for the long delay, which I am sure that many of you were worried about, but don't worry. I have no intentions of abandoning this story or going on hiatus, the delay was on account of some massive writer's block which has now been thoroughly strangled, beaten, and shot to death. **

**Now, with that out of the way, enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 36: Tears of the Goddess<strong>

Looking out across the large expanse of forest, through all the trees rustling in the evening breeze, to the large river whose surface was glimmering gently in the moonlight, Ren was reminded of how much he enjoyed the chirping of nighttime crickets.

It brought a sense of peace to what had been a chaotic night…even more so, with the figure curled up against him, her large body and tails curled into a circular shield around their prodigy. Even with all that had happened, the five kits had all fallen asleep with almost no difficulty, making it that much easier for the two parents that had risked life and limb for a human they had met only once before.

Even though they _did_ trust Alex, Ren couldn't deny what his mate had said: the boy was indeed a beacon for the Black Hand, and the cult, combined with the demons, would do everything in their power to ensure that the boy did not succeed in whatever purpose that the spirit of Aku-Hametsu had set for him…a purpose that became his once the sword had first touched his hand.

"…_But that is something for a later time,"_ Ren thought to himself. For the time being at least, Alex was safe, and they had no need to worry about their oath. Right now, all Ren cared about was his loving family, all six of them resting against his belly, safe under his watchful eye.

But even so, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the stump that had once been one of Miyu's seven majestic tails…now six, until the missing seventh eventually grew back.

Thoughts began to filter into his mind, about how he should have been there for her, how he should have protected her, how he shouldn't have moved so far away from her and left her alone with –

"_No,"_ he firmly thought to himself. _"Miyu knew the risks when she swore the oath with me all those years ago, and she wouldn't have done so if she didn't trust both our abilities and instincts. We live in dangerous times now, and…well…losing a tail or two might be the least of our problems before long."_

Looking at the severed appendage again, the large fox sniffed and shook his head a bit before laying it down on the ground next to Miyu's.

"…_At the very least, the damage won't be permanent. That's the best we can hope for,"_ he sighed inwardly.

As if on cue, one of Miyu's large eyes opened up and regarded him sleepily, the kitsune smiling a bit as she stared at him.

"…Hello," he whispered to her after a moment.

"Hello, yourself," she whispered back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Mmm…my tail itches a bit."

"Which one?"

"You know which one, you big oaf," she jested.

"Ah, of course. How silly of me…" he answered in stride. "Would you like me to lick the wound for you?"

"That is alright…I already did so myself."

A brief moment of silence opened up between them, in which they simply stared warmly into each other's eyes, before Ren eventually said, "…I'm…sorry, for yelling at you earlier."

She smiled again, and slowly leaned over to nuzzle him gently. "You don't need to apologize…I was the one doing most of the yelling."

"Well, you certainly _do_ like to yell a lot," he responded with a toothy grin.

"Oh, _really?_" she responded sarcastically. "Well in that case, I'm _far_ too tired from all my yelling to take my turn keeping watch. Surely you wouldn't mind staying up all night?"

Ren unintentionally blanched at this, and she giggled softly as she nuzzled him again. "Just a joke, my love. You know I wouldn't do something that terrible to you."

"I…suppose not…" he answered both warily and amusingly, settling down again. "…but still, I apologize."

"Accepted, you big oaf. Now get some sleep. We have no enemies here."

"Yes, dear."

Waiting until Miyu had closed her eyes again, Ren gently lifted his head back up and, reaching behind him with one of his long and dexterous tails, pulled out the mysterious orb that he had found on one of the assassins inside the ruins of Idaina-yosai.

One sniff told him that it was practically covered in Alex's scent, leading him to believe that it belonged to the young man…but at the same time, the clear glass orb had a hint of an underlying scent – Amaterasu's scent – which only served to make him even more curious as to exactly why Alexander had it.

Shrugging to himself, Ren tucked the orb away and made a mental note to return it to one of them eventually. Right now, he had more important things to attend to, a fact made apparent when he laid his head atop Miyu's neck affectionately and curled his seven tails protectively around his family.

* * *

><p>A short ways away, Amaterasu and Waka had stationed themselves near themselves near Yunalesca's hut, the Frenchman sitting against a large tree trunk with the wolf lying next to him, her head resting on her folded paws and staring straight ahead.<p>

He noticed with a small bit of concern that her eyes never left the entrance to the healer kitsune's hut, as though she were expecting Alex to simply walk out on his own, perfectly fine.

"You should relax, _ma Cherie_," Waka eventually spoke. "You've had a very rough day, and we wouldn't want that fine fur coat of yours to lose its lustrous shine on account of some lost sleep, eh?"

"_I'm fine, Waka."_

"I beg to differ, Ma Cherie," he countered. "You look exhausted, which is unsurprising after such a trying ordeal. At the very least, you should have Madame Yunalesca look at your injuries."

"_I said I'm fine, Waka!"_

The Frenchman sighed, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a long, white object, decorated with gold filigree in the form of several kanji symbols along its length…a rather large holy bone, which he had _somehow_ managed to fit into his sleeve without it showing.

Another one of his little secrets that were best kept and not told, he thought with an inward chuckle.

"If you insist on staying awake, then eat this at least, to keep your strength up," he suggested, holding it out in front of her rigid gaze. "Come now, you know you waaannnnnt iiiiiit…" he said in a sing-song voice.

Her eyes left the door to Yunalesca's hut and slowly drifted to the object being dangled in front of her, before she suddenly lunged and began tearing into the holy bone, making Waka snatch his hand away in fear of losing it to the suddenly ravenous wolf. Within seconds, the bone had disappeared down her gullet, and after checking his hand to ensure that he hadn't lost any fingers, Waka cleared his throat nervously before returning his gaze to the wolf, now sitting up and leaning her head way back to stretch her neck.

"…_I needed that…"_ she finally admitted, shaking herself off and lying back down as her once-limp tail now twitched about idly beside her. _"I suppose you expect me to leap into your arms to thank you now, hmm?"_ she added jokingly.

"Welllll…I certainly would not complain about it," Waka said with a casual smirk on his flawless features.

Amaterasu whacked him once with her tail, making him chuckle. _"You are SUCH a dog sometimes, Waka. I swear, you're almost as bad as-"_

She suddenly fell silent, looking down and away, but Waka knew which name she was going to mention.

"…as your little bouncing friend, Ma Cherie?" he slowly finished for her.

She nodded, but her expression told him that she was now worrying about more than just Alexander.

"Wherever he is, I am certain he is alright. You and I both know how tenacious the little bug can be. The events on the Ark of Yamato proved that," he said.

"_I know…but…I still miss him. I just wish I knew where he was right now,"_ she sighed.

"Not to worry…you will see him again," he said comfortingly, tapping a finger against the side of his head as she looked up at him. "Trust me, ma Cherie, I know these sorts of things."

She huffed, and laid her head down on her paws again, muttering _"Showoff…"_ and making Waka laugh again.

She wasn't even aware of the fact that she had nodded off only minutes after their conversation, until her eyes opened suddenly and she noticed that the moon had changed its position in the sky, indicating that several hours had passed already. Waka was no longer sitting at her side, and after a quick glance around, she saw him standing in front of Yunalesca's hut, speaking in hushed voices with the kitsune-hybrid who was standing there in front of him.

She couldn't hear them from where she was laying, but she could tell that the conversation wasn't very heated at least, given the lack of aggressive gestures and whatnot. Waka was likely just inquiring into the young man's current condition, which was apparently not too severe given that Yunalesca was out there with him instead of inside tending to the young man.

Amaterasu decided to use this time to examine Yunalesca some more, in an attempt to glean some information about Alex's apparent savior, noting that she seemed to have changed her clothes. Instead of her rugged hunting outfit, the fox was now wearing much more delicate looking clothing, mainly a loose and breezy looking light blue kimono, one with long sleeves that hung off her arms, a sash that was wrapped around her waist, and a very short skirt portion that only reached halfway down her thighs. In fact, save for the rather obvious parts, the garment covered surprisingly little of her body, leaving her shoulders and most of her digitigrade legs exposed…along with several new features that the wolf hadn't seen before due to the forest green cloak that had once obscured her form.

One of these was the fact that her long, smooth mane was now visible, and appearing to have been set further up along the back of her neck to just between her large fox ears, in order to give the appearance of a flowing, waist-length head of hair…no doubt, a side effect of the hybrid form that she seemed to prefer thus far. Secondly, Amaterasu could also see the three long tails that trailed behind her, the bushy fur on them rippling softly in the nighttime breeze.

_Three tails_…Amaterasu didn't know too much about the kitsune lifecycle, but she could deduce from the tails alone that Yunalesca was young, even among her own kind. Three tails meant that she was likely around Alex's age in human years…a young woman (or rather, fox), just entering her prime and finding her place in life.

"_So young…and yet, already so skilled in the art of healing?"_ Ammy thought to herself. _"Well, she certainly seems to possess confidence in her skills…as well as her appearance, if her skimpy little 'outfit' is any indication…"_ she added dryly.

But this wasn't the time for judgments, she knew, when Waka and the kitsune in question seemed to finish their conversation and began walking towards her.

"Ma Cherire…" Waka began, kneeling down once he reached her. "I've spoken with Madame Yunalesca here…and if you wish, she will allow you to see Monsieur Alex."

Ammy looked confusedly to Yunalesca, who confirmed Waka's statement with a simple nod, her lightly decorated mask seeming to glint slightly in the light of the moon. "He seems…stable, for the time being at least," she remarked. "I cannot imagine how long he will sleep, given what he has been through…but when he _does _awake, I think seeing the Goddess of the Sun would be more comforting to him than anything else at this point."

The healer kitsune shifted on her footpaws, and added, "…And if you would let me, I would like to see to your own wounds as well, if for nothing else than to ensure that they will heal properly."

"Quite the offer, _non?_" Waka added with another casual smirk. "Do not worry, ma Cherie. I will stand guard for any of the ruffians afoot while you receive the care that you are so desperately in need of, and yet so desperately refuse."

She gave him a "friendly" glare of sorts, obviously being able to tell that Waka was using her concern for Alex to try and make her receive the aid that he had been trying to push on her all night…but she eventually decided that if she had been sleepy enough to nod off without even realizing it, then perhaps she could use some healing in case her injuries were worse than she thought.

"…_Very well," _she eventually spoke. "_But…if it is all the same to you, I would prefer a private moment with him first."_

"Of course. Take all the time you need," Yunalesca spoke.

Standing up, Amaterasu slowly padded away with Yunalesca towards her hut, the kitsune remaining outside as the wolf passed through the curtained door and immediately spotted Alex in the dim light within, Aku-Hametsu propped up against the wall next to him along with his armor.

The young man was resting in what seemed to be a deerskin hammock of sorts, with a blanket lying over him and his splinted left arm resting atop it. Surrounding him was a large assortment of drying herbs that were hanging from the ceiling, as well as various knick-knacks that Amaterasu supposed "aided" the healing process in some way. Next to the hammock, the wolf could also see a small stool with a wooden jug on top, a strange smell emanating from the liquid inside it. Next to the stool was a roughly hewn table, covered in various ingredients of some kind that were clearly being mixed into a wooden bowl, and next to _that_, she could see a large barrel of sorts that was normally used to carry the water for mixing sake. It was currently filled with water, but what that water was being used for exactly was yet to be discovered for her.

Pulling her gaze away from Yunalesca's work, Ammy slowly went up to Alex and sat down on her haunches next to him, the hammock set low enough that she could see over it without difficulty…but difficulty was the first thing affecting the wolf goddess, as she stared sadly at her dear friend.

The young man was a mess: his skin was dreadfully pale, no doubt from the blood loss he had been suffering earlier, and the cold sweat covering his partially exposed body wasn't helping matters either. The stab wound in his lower back had been visibly bandaged, as the tight wrappings around his stomach proved, but she could still see a good deal of the massive cauterized scar in his side. Besides that, she could also see a small patch of dried blood around his mouth that Yunalesca had likely missed while cleaning him up, mixed into his thin facial hair and likely having originated from the broken nose that he had suffered when Kurenai had punched him in the face. His nose was straightened out now, likely having been wrenched back into place by the healer kitsune…but the same couldn't be said for his arm, which was sturdily splinted and wrapped into a sling to hold it in place while the bones mended back together. Besides all that, he was covered in small cuts and bruises, all of them bandaged as well…and she could only guess as to the condition of his once-dislocated leg, hidden beneath the blanket partially covering him.

Seeing him in this state nearly broke her right then and there.

(_Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST – A Soldier's Honor_)

She could still feel the hot tears welling up in her eyes, slowly spilling out onto her muzzle as she closed her eyes…and cried.

And cried.

In her wolf body, she couldn't sob…only whine pitifully.

She had never cried before, she realized with a somber thought. She had seen it from mortal beings enough times to know what it entailed…but even in moments of terrible tragedy and loss, Amaterasu had never felt the sensation of warm tears running down her face, catching in her white fur or dripping off the tip of her muzzle.

She didn't understand.

She didn't understand why she was feeling this sad. She had been sad many times before, during her first adventure through Nippon…but never anything like the sorrow she was feeling now. Watching helplessly as Waka was blasted off the platform in the Ark of Yamato, falling to what seemed like certain death…seeing Issun there in her moment of perceived victory, despite the fact that he couldn't come onto the ark with her…the loss and helplessness she felt when she was struck down from behind, when she knew she had failed her final battle, and knew that all of Nippon and her friends would be consumed by the darkness…

Why did it feel like none of the sadness and tragedy she had felt before even _compared_ to the sadness she was feeling now?

Even more, she didn't understand why she was feeling this sad _now_ of all times. Yunalesca had said without a hint of doubt that he would live through his injuries…and yet, seeing the poor young man in this broken and battered state of his made such constricting and terribly sorrowful feelings well up inside her chest that she didn't even care if anyone outside heard her.

Her friend…a friend that she deeply cared for…was hurt. He was hurt because he had tried to protect her against a force that he couldn't possibly combat on his own.

How could she live with the fact that _she_ was the whole reason he had come back instead of fleeing like he could have, and _should have_?

How could she live with the fact that Alex had nearly DIED helping her?

She suddenly heard a distant rumble of thunder outside, and opening her eyes, she slowly realized that if she didn't get ahold of herself soon, it would likely start raining…

But she found herself almost _wishing_ that it would.

"_No…"_ she told herself. _"That is no way to think."_

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she told herself something…something that she hoped would get her emotions under control, so that the world outside didn't suffer the same dreary sadness that she was going through.

"_Alex wouldn't want you to cry. He wouldn't want you to be sad, especially for his sake."_

She told herself this repeatedly…kept her eyes closed and took deep, steadying breaths as she felt the tears slowly recede before disappearing entirely.

"_You should be happy that he is even still alive, after everything you and him have been through. Crimson Helm didn't take him from you forever, and neither did Kurenai."_

The thought of the house collapsing atop the assassin commander brought a sense of fitting justice to mind…something that helped bring her sadness down to an even more manageable level.

"_At the very least, he won't be hurting Alex anymore. That should be _more_ than enough."_

Suddenly feeling very drained of energy, Amaterasu rested her head across Alex's chest with a sad whimper, feeling it rise and fall along with his steady breathing…much steadier than it had been a few hours ago.

"_I'm sorry, Alex…I'm so, so sorry."_

She didn't want to leave him alone, but she knew that Yunalesca was waiting for her to finish so that the kitsune could tend to her wounds…and the Sun Goddess always kept her word.

"_I promise you…I long as I draw breath, I won't let anything harm you ever again."_

Slowly and reluctantly lifting her head off of Alex's chest, she stared at him for another few moments before giving him a gentle lick on the hand and padding away to let Yunalesca know she was ready.

* * *

><p><em>The room was warm…sunlight filtered in through the many windows, bathing the large, exquisite room and the two figures inside it with light.<em>

_One was standing near the back of the room, looking a bit out of place with his long blonde hair and tall, stilt-like sandals. The other stood by the window, his silhouette framed in the light of the rising sun as another morning dawned upon the Takeda's castle._

_Both of them were silent, as the Moon Tribesman in the back shifted slightly and appeared to be waiting for something. The one by the window, his broad frame covered in an exquisitely crafted and high-collard kimono, simply stood there and watched as his people began to emerge from their homes…cautiously so._

_They had a right to do so…especially considering what was happening in the world of Nippon now._

_Finally, the Moon Tribesman in the back cleared his throat and said, "Raikoh…you know you cannot protect them forever."_

_The leader of the Takeda simply stood there unmoving, staring out across the castle complex as the people began to attend to their morning routines…and the guards lining the walls stood alert and at the ready, their blue armor and steel swords glinting in the sun as they paced back and forth._

"…_Who else will protect them, but I?" he finally spoke. "The Brush Gods? They have forsaken us. Your own people? You and I both know what happened that day, Ambassador Sugawara."_

_The Moon Tribesman flinched as painful memories resurfaced, but Raikoh remained unrepentant in his stance. "No, my old friend…" he spoke again. "There is no one else to protect them but I…and I will _never _give up on them so long as I draw breath."_

"_Then why do you insist on keep them here, Raikoh?" Sugawara demanded to know. "If you keep them here, your castle…its protectors…they will all be overrun before long."_

"_Then it shall be a fight to the death…a glorious, bloody death."_

"_Raikoh…I have nothing but respect for your people's sense of honor and duty…but even you must know that this is _suicide!"_ Sugawara began to plead. "What about the feelings of those below you? Do you know for sure if they share your ideals?"_

_Silence._

"_What about Aku-Hametsu?" Sugawara tried again, gesturing to the exquisite sword resting upon the small rack atop Raikoh's desk. "Would you willingly let such a powerful weapon fall into the hands of the demons?"_

_Silence._

"_What about your own SON?" Sugawara stated firmly._

_More silence._

_Raikoh slowly began to turn around, a grim look upon his face…the face of a man that had not seen sleep for several days. Rings lined his tired eyes, and the hair on his face and scalp were both tangled, dirty messes. _

_But the saddest sight of all was the small bundle of blankets held gently in his arms…a bundle of blankets that shifted slightly, as the baby boy within shifted in his sleep._

_Sugawara knew that he had likely overstepped his bounds with that last statement of his, but he stood unflinchingly against Raikoh's tired, yet fearsome stare, meeting the man's eyes with his own and refusing to look away._

_A silent stare-down ensued…eventually broken when Raikoh broke the eye contact and moved off to the side, to where a small cradle rested._

_Gently lowering his baby son into it, Raikoh stood there and looked down at him, the barest hint of fatherly love still showing itself in his tired, tired eyes._

"…_And so the game begins…and I must play."_

"_Raikoh…" Sugawara began, but a wave of the Takeda Lord's hand silenced him._

"_I know they will come for me…" he continued. "…but I will not shy away. I _WILL_ answer their call to battle!"_

_Sugawara looked down at the carpeted floor, unsure of what else to say, except for one small thing:_

"_Raikoh…it is still not too late."_

* * *

><p>Alex's eyes suddenly snapped open, and he was greeted with the increasingly familiar sight of the lone tree within the endless plain of green grass that was Amunae's domain.<p>

Greatly relieved by the fact that he was feeling none of the pain that he had felt in his brief bout of consciousness, Alex slowly sat up…and was rudely surprised when he discovered that his armor was gone and he was wearing nothing but his underwear!

"OH, WHAT THE HELL!" he yelled out loud, suddenly feeling very exposed as he jumped up and desperately began to look for some clothing to cover himself with.

"Ahem…"

Looking up from the ground, Alex saw a grey colored robe of sorts being dangled in front of him by a long silver and white-furred tail – undoubtedly Amunae's – and quickly snatched it down.

"Uh…thanks," he muttered in the fox's general direction, face burning red as he slipped the article of clothing on.

"Think nothing of it…" he heard Amunae mutter tiredly from behind him, prompting the young man to turn around and see something that immediately made him forget about his temporary indecency.

"Oh, Jesus! A-are you ok? !" he sputtered.

Amunae, the silver kitsune normally very regal and pristine in appearance, now looked more like something the cat had dragged in: his heavily matted fur was stained with blood in several places, leaking out of some sizable gashes that crisscrossed his large body, alongside several large scorch marks and what looked like a vicious bite wound in his hind leg. His tails were all still there, fortunately, but the rest of the kitsune's body was a veritable _mess._

"What the hell happened to you? !" Alex demanded to know, and the response he got was a tired sounding chuckled, as if the kitsune wasn't even fazed by the injuries he had sustained.

"Do not worry about me, young one…I have had far worse than a few scratches," the fox said, licking one of the bleeding wounds on his front paw.

"…You're kidding me, right?" Alex replied with a disbelieving shake of his head.

"Not at all. I died from a sword wound through the back, remember?"

Alex's mood defused upon hearing that bit of truth, and he managed to calm down, allowing him to think straight enough to realize something.

"Wait a second…if you're just a spirit, how are you even hurt?"

Amunae looked up from his paw, and heaved a tired sigh as he shifted to face Alex fully.

"…As living beings can harm other living beings…so to can spirits wound each other."

"What?"

"You are aware of the fact that there are living beings in Nippon that possess the means to harm your body, yes?" Amunae asked, staring at Alex as the young man nodded. "Then it should come as no surprise to you that, in the Spirit Realm, the rules remain the same."

"So, wait…you're saying that _spirits_ can hurt each other too?" Alex said, narrowing his eyes confusedly.

"Orochi threatened to consume your soul, and nearly did so as well…that alone should be enough proof for you."

"Then Orochi…he's the one who did all that to you?"

"Indeed. He and I had a…er…minor difference of opinions, to say the least. He was quite furious with me for sending you away, you know…that one never _did_ like having his victory snatched away from him at the last moment."

"Well, damn. You're gonna be ok, though, right?" Alex asked, feeling a bit concerned.

"I shall recover in due time…but for the moment, I am more concerned about yourself. How do you feel?" the fox asked, sounding oddly polite despite the fact that he was bleeding all over the place.

"Uh…well…fine, I guess. At least, better than I felt when I was awake. No aches or pains from my living body, just like you said, right? And apparently no clothes either…"

"Indeed. That _does_ tend to happen when your armor and other worldly belongings are removed from your body, after all," Amunae remarked with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, about that…where the heck am I, exactly? All I could really tell was that I was in some kind of hut in nothing but my skivvies."

"You are in Kawa Village…the home of the River Kitsune Tribe," Amunae answered. "You should consider yourself lucky that they are the ones who found you; their ability for the healing arts is legendary, even among the other kitsune tribes. You couldn't have fallen into better hands."

"Oh…well…yeah, I guess that would be pretty lucky," Alex muttered, sounding a little unconvinced.

"Is something troubling you, young one?" Amunae asked, leaning in a bit closer.

Alex was thinking about the mysterious female figure that had been helping him in the brief time that he had been awake, who had somehow lulled him to sleep with just the sound of her voice…but at the same time, he figured that Amunae didn't have to know that.

"…Nothing," he finally answered.

Amunae blinked once, his piercing azure gaze boring a hole right through Alex, making the young man shift a bit uncomfortably.

"…Very well, then," the kitsune finally said, releasing Alex from his stare and going back to licking the gash on his paw.

"Amunae?" Alex suddenly asked, making the kitsune look back up at him, his tongue hanging out in mid lick.

"You can see things outside of Aku-Hametsu, right?" the young man continued.

The fox retracted his tongue, and slowly nodded, saying, "More than you would care to know, I would think."

"…Can you tell me if Ammy's ok?"

The fox raised an eyebrow, and Alex quickly added, "I mean…she had it a little rough down in those caves. I just want to make sure she made it out ok with Waka and the others."

A few more seconds of staring, and Amunae said, "…I would certainly think so. Come, see for yourself."

Pushing himself up, the large kitsune slowly meandered down to the nearby river running through the field, a curious Alex in tow as he sat down on the back and dipped one of the stark white tips of his many tails into the flowing water. Watching as the river stopped flowing and the surface of it became as smooth as glass, Alex saw an image suddenly appear on the surface…

Ammy…she was sitting by him, by his body that was resting in the hammock within the hut he had found himself in upon waking. A quick glance told him that she was looking relatively better now, and a good deal more energetic…but that wasn't what was concerning him.

What concerned him was the fact that she was _crying._

He could see the tiny drops of liquid running down her muzzle, hanging on the tip of her nose for a brief moment before dripping off onto the ground below. It was beyond doubt that she was crying…crying for _him,_ made all the more obvious when she managed to stifle her tears a little and rested her head upon his exposed chest.

"_But…why?"_ was all he could think.

He wasn't dead, or even dying…but there she was nonetheless, crying her poor amber eyes out over his unconscious form.

The sight was quickly becoming hard to watch, and squeezing his eyes shut, Alex tore his gaze away from the image and turned away without a word, striding back off towards the lone tree as Amunae dismissed the illusory image and slowly padded after him.

Sitting down with his back against the trunk, Alex rested his arms on his knees and stared at the ground as he thought long and hard about something that he obviously wasn't in the mood to talk about. Amunae chose to respect the young man's silence and settled down next to him instead, partially curled around the tree so his head was on one side of Alex and his many tails were on the other.

After a moment, Alex opened his eyes, and muttered, "…Thanks, Amunae…that's…that's all I needed to know."

"Alexander…do you harbor feelings for the Goddess of the Sun?"

The question was so out of the blue that Alex could only look up and stare straight ahead with a stunned expression on his face, before he quickly got his composure back and said, "…No. There's nothing."

"Your reaction with Orochi seemed to suggest otherwise."

"Drop it, Amunae."

"Young one-"

"I said_ drop it!"_ Alex snapped.

A brief silence opened up between them, only broken slightly when the kitsune quietly muttered, "As you wish."

A long period of time passed in which neither of them spoke. Amunae preoccupied himself with a passing butterfly, while Alex continued to sit there and stare as the ground in front of him, his brow furrowed.

"_She was crying…she was crying_ _over me,"_ he thought to himself. _"People don't do that unless they really care about someone…not even goddesses."_

He put a hand over his eyes as he shook his head slightly and tried to make sense of what he had seen.

"_Does she really care that much about me? Is she really starting to feel the same way about me that I do about her?"_

He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, trying to keep himself from swinging a punch at the tree behind him for fear of Amunae seeing…although he couldn't be sure in the fox wasn't already listening in on his thoughts again.

"_I can't think about this right now…"_ he concluded. _"I've got bigger things to worry about, like the fact that I'm badly hurt for starters. I don't want to, but I have to sleep on this for now. The next time we see Oki, I'm sure I'll have thought of something…something that'll keep this from getting out of hand."_

Looking back to the large fox next to him, said butterfly now having somehow positioned itself on the tip of his nose, Alex asked him, "How long until I wake up, Amunae?"

"Hmm?" the fox mused, shaking his head and scaring off the insect. "Oh…well, you can do so right now, I suppose. The medicine you have been given seems to be working wonders on your body, as far as I can tell."

"Think you can let me wake up then?"

"Not quite…there is something I must discuss with you first."

"Oh great, NOW what?" Alex snapped, rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

"The entire reason your body is in its current state is due to the injuries you sustained at the hands of the one known as Kurenai, yes?" Amunae stated. "You were injured this severely because you could not best him in battle, from what it seemed."

"Yeah…" Alex muttered, eyeing the fox suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"

"What I am saying is that it will be in your best interest to prevent something like this from happening again…through _training."_

Alex's loud scoff was not entirely unexpected, and the fox simply lay there and stared as the young man went off on a loud tirade that was no doubt born from his rather horrible experiences training with Oki.

"Are you freaking SERIOUS?" Alex yelled, stomping back and forth and flailing his arms about angrily. "MORE training? ! I'd rather fight a grizzly bear with my bare hands!"

"You would certainly be capable of doing so after the training that I am offering you…" Amunae calmly remarked, making Alex stop and scowl at him suspiciously. "Your skills in the blade are…adequate for many lesser demons and such, but they will not protect you from the stronger horrors in Nippon, such as the greater demons or, Inari forbid, the leaders of the Black Hand. But aside from that, I have noticed that your ki training in particular is a bit…_lacking."_

"What are you talking about? My 'ki training' is _fine!_ I can shift it to my arms and legs just fine, and I can ki run and ki jump with the best of them!" Alex retorted.

"As I recall, your last attempt with ki running had you eating dirt…" Amunae said casually. "And your jumping still isn't being performed as quickly as I prefer. Your opponents could ascend a cliff face in the time it takes for you to perform a single jump."

"So what? You're saying I need better ki training? Who else is going to teach me that kind of stuff besides Oki?" Alex snapped.

"Ahem…" Amunae simple cleared his throat, making Alex squint confusedly at him for a split second before realizing who the fox was referring to.

"_You?"_ Alex questioned. "You're gonna train me how to use ki better?"

"No…" the fox answered, making Alex even more confused. "I am going to train you to use both ki AND a sword better."

"You know how to use a sword?"

Amunae, for all his wisdom and sagaciousness, suddenly felt an urge to imitate the action that Alex had resisted doing himself many times…a _facepalm,_ as the young man had called it…but fortunately, Alex got the hint quickly enough.

"Oh…right…because you make them, and…Aku-Hametsu, and…stuff," Alex muttered, feeling very stupid that he hadn't picked up on that fact.

"And now that you know that little bit of information, I shall allow you to wake up for the time being. Our first training session shall be here, the next time you fall asleep. Do try not to be late…" the fox added with a toothy grin.

Heaving a great sigh, Alex muttered, "…Not like I have a choice, do I?" before Amunae's domain suddenly darkened around him, and the pain of his bodily injuries suddenly flared up again…though not nearly as strong as before.

Taking a deep breath upon waking, Alex opened his eyes to the sight of the same hut he had found himself in, resting within the same hammock with the same blanket atop him and the same splint and cloth wrapped around him. His bandages seemed to have been changed recently, though, judging from the lack of blood staining the ones he could see…and he realized now that the time of day had changed as well.

Daylight streamed through the curtained entrance to the hut, filling it with a warm, soothing light that Alex hadn't realized how much he had missed until now. It was almost…relieving in a way, as though the sun itself was also relieved and relaxed about something.

Then he saw Waka, sitting in a chair right next to him.

The Moon Tribesman appeared to have nodded off, his head resting against his chest as he snored quietly. A long scroll was wrapped up in his crossed arms, perhaps some form of reading material that was forgotten when he fell asleep, and his chair was tilted back at a slight angle for comfort as his long stilt-like sandals kept him propped up.

Lifting his head up slightly, grunting a bit but remarkably feeling almost no pain from the injury he knew was in his back, Alex stared at him for a moment before saying, "…Bedside vigil, Waka? Didn't know you cared that much."

A uncharacteristically loud and broken snort came out of Waka at that moment, the Frenchman waving his arms about as he fought to keep himself from falling backwards out of his chair.

Once he had recovered (and caught his breath), Waka gave him his typical smirk and said, "_Enfin reveille, sommes-nous?_ Finally awake, are we?"

"What do you mean 'finally'?"

"_Bonte', Monseiur!_ You've been asleep for three days!" Waka declared, rolling up the scroll he had been reading and tucking it away in his sleeve.

"Three days? ! You're kidding!"

"Not at all, mon ami…though I must imagine that you are feeling quite rested, _non?"_

"Yeah…actually, I feel pretty good, all things considering. I thought getting stabbed in the back and having my arm broken would hurt for a lot longer!" Alex replied, looking himself over as he decided to risk it and pushed himself up into a sitting postion…again, with a surprising lack of pain save for some minor throbbing.

"Ah…it must be the medicine that Madame Yunalesca has given you," Waka remarked, rubbing his chin as though equally intrigued by the young man's apparently rapid recovery.

"Madame _who?"_

"Yunalesca, mon ami. She is the one who carried you here and took care of you while you were otherwise…_incapacitated._"

"Yeah? Well, where is she now?"

"Oh, out and about I would imagine. Difficult to tell with a kitsune, _non?"_

"_A kitsune…?" _Alex thought, immediately thinking back to the figure that had helped him in the brief moment he had last been awake. _"Then I AM in a kitsune village. Damn, that's just what I needed…MORE foxes…"_ he thought sarcastically.

Suddenly remembering something else, Alex asked, "Where's Ammy?"

"Ah…I thought you might ask that eventually," Waka said with another smirk as he stood up, pulled back the curtain, and blew a sharp whistle with his thumb and forefinger.

A few seconds passed…and suddenly, a red and white blur shot through the opening, coming right up to Alex and immediately assaulting his face with a bunch of wet and sloppy licks.

"ACKPTHFFF!" Alex sputtered, as Waka grinned and laughed, coming back up next to them.

"Ma Cherie here never left your side for a moment!" he said, sitting back down. "I only managed to convince her last night to allow me to take over her post while she got some rest! Ah, but it is a shame that she could not be there for the moment that you awoke, non?"

Trying to push the ecstatic wolf off with little to no avail, Alex was at a literal loss for words.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you go. Again, sorry for the long delay with this one, but I can assure you that the writer's block is gone now, so there shouldn't be a repeat performance in the near future at least.<strong>

**Rate, review, check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time!  
><strong>


	39. Yunalesca

**Hello, everyone, and welcome back! Sorry this is a few days past the deadline, but things came up that my dA journal will explain. Now we get into one of my most looked-forward-to sections of Steel in the Moonlight! I've been waiting to write this for a while, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 37: Yunalesca<strong>

(_Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST 3 - Philosophorum Omega_)

"Hail, Lord Nobunaga!"

The cry rang out through the darkened hall of Idaina-yosai's shogun, and everyone within it – the assassins standing guard, the imps working beneath their eyes, and the bearded old scribes scanning over their various notes splayed out across the many tables that had been moved off to both sides of the massive entrance hall – immediately stood at attention and either saluted with a fist over their chest or a deeply respectful bow. One of the imps took a tad too long to get into position and received a sharp kick from the nearby assassin for his slowness.

_Ka-chink, ka-chink, ka-chink._

The sound of their leader's armor shifting with his footsteps was heard long before the man himself was seen…and he certainly made quite a sight when he finally stepped through the massive wooden doors and stopped just within the entrance, his midnight black armor casting a sinister shadow across the torch-lit floor, and his matching cloak shifting slightly on his shoulders as the underground wind brushed against it.

Scanning the room with the red lights of his faceplate's eyes, the Lord of the Black Hand looked over each and every person in the room from where he stood, each one of them refusing to meet his gaze and looking down at the floor submissively…the worker imps especially, considering that they were at the bottom of the food chain as far as HE was concerned.

"…As you were," he finally spoke, folding his arms behind his back and slowly pacing forward. He was quickly followed by the sound of marching footsteps, as through the door behind him came his entourage of soldiers, covered in their red-dyed bamboo armor and carrying their swords of jagged black obsidian.

Not that the Lord of the Black Hand needed bodyguards…but it helped reinforce the point that he was not to be trifled with.

Proceeding straight ahead, Nobunaga strode through the center of the large entrance hall and through the opening in the far wall where all the major activity in the building seemed to center around and originate from. Going down the stairs ahead without a moment's hesitation on either his part or his retinue's, he passed the many murals depicting the Takeda's moments of various triumphs and historical events, paying no heed to any of them as he eventually reached the bottom and entered into the secret chamber…the chamber containing their latest spoil of war.

The large archway reached high above them, humming slightly as proof of the power that still resided in the artifact. The green lines pulsing with energy glowed brightly in the darkness, lighting up the room to the point that the many scribes lined around it could write upon their scrolls with little to no help from the nearby candles that lay upon the tables nearby, all of them strewn with notes and various instruments of study.

Though no one around him could see it, a tiny smile creased his face the moment his gaze fell upon the artifact.

"Hail, Lord Nobunaga!" the bodyguard to his right barked out, and everyone in the room immediately dropped what they were doing and either saluted or bowed low to their leader.

Unfurling one of his arms out from behind his back, Nobunaga waved dismissively to put them all at ease, before moving closer to the large warp gate that the Takeda had managed to conceal from his people for so long, even after both sides had retreated from the ongoing war between Nippon and the Land of Darkness. Passing through the crowd of scribes and workers, Nobunaga came upon a stalwart line of Black Hand assassins, loosely standing shoulder to shoulder as they stood guard over something.

Another gesture with his hand, and the line immediately move aside for him, revealing a lone man sitting upon a fallen stone, his back turned to them.

He too was garbed in black armor, though it had clearly seen better days: many of the metal plates bore dents and were covered in a thick coating of dust, not to mention the unexpected long black cloak across his shoulders that now sported a tattered and torn trailing edge, with various holes having been punched through the fabric. Tightly wrapped bandages were seen around his right arm and left leg respectively, dark red stains seeping through for all around him to see.

The man was a mess, but his weapon seemed to have escaped harm…

…a large obsidian scythe, resting across his lap as he drew a whetstone across its finely honed edge.

Hearing Nobunaga's approach, Kurenai, the Assassin Commander, looked over his shoulder at him before using the scythe's haft to push himself up and turning to face him with a slight, but reverent nod.

Respectful, but not overly so…one of the many things that Nobunaga liked about the assassin.

Looking him up and down, Nobunaga finally spoke, "You look like death warmed over, Kurenai."

"It's just a few scratches, my lord…nowhere near enough to keep yours truly down for the count," Kurenai replied, his casual tone lacking any form of submissiveness and making the soldiers around Nobunaga bristle at breach of conduct.

The black samurai merely stared them down however, before turning his gaze back to the assassin commander.

"As expected. At this point, you have survived so much that I doubt anything could truly kill you, Kurenai."

"Thank you for the compliment, my lord," Kurenai muttered, bowing his head slightly as Nobunaga strode past him towards the large archway towering above those in the room.

"So…this is what you wished to show me?" Nobunaga eventually spoke, extending his gauntleted hand and running it down the archway's perfectly smooth surface as his black armor was bathed in the green light that the artifact was generating.

"Yes, my lord. I have reason to believe that _this_ is what our people have been searching for, since we first heard rumors of its existence centuries ago."

"Oh?" Nobunaga inquired, rubbing his fingers together as if to test the composition of the material that the archway was made out of.

Kurenai nodded, gesturing to the nearby group of old men, each robed in black and red and bearing long scrolls with equally long beards to match. "The scribes have all but confirmed its nature: this artifact IS of Moon Tribe origin, and they have all the reason to believe that it's the exact same artifact that the Takeda once used to launch attacks upon the Land of Darkness."

Nobunaga slowly looked up from his raised hand, the appendage unconsciously curling into a tight fist…but he managed to stifle whatever angry emotion he was feeling and turned to face the assassin commander once more.

"…It is a curious thing, Kurenai…"

"What is, my lord?"

Nobunaga stared down at the ground for a moment, before making a quick gesture to his retinue of bodyguards, the red samurai immediately doing an about face and moving to herd the rest of the humans and demons out of the room. The assassins looked to their own respective leader, who merely nodded in response, giving the O.K. for them to leave as well.

Within seconds, the simple gestures of the two men had emptied the entire room…a subtle, yet mighty testament to the amount of leadership they both possessed.

"You have heard the "official" story, have you not?" Nobunaga finally spoke, pacing over to the assassin commander's side. "The one detailing the demon attack upon this place, that utterly broke the backbone of the Takeda in Nippon?"

"Of course, my lord."

"Speak freely, Kurenai," Nobunaga immediately responded, placing a heavy hand on Kurenai's armored shoulder. "You've more than earned that right in recent years."

"…Alright, then," Kurenai replied, and thought Nobunaga couldn't see his face, he was certain that the assassin commander was smirking. "Yes, I've heard of it, and I've read the scribes' journals on it several times. Who hasn't?"

"Then, being so familiar with it, you will recall that our people were so devastated by the war at that point in time that our ancestors of a hundred years past were unable to participate in that very battle ourselves?"

"Yes, I remember. Our people had regrouped in the Land of Darkness and were in the process of licking their wounds when Orochi and the demons under his command launched their strike upon Nippon. They started with Idaina-Yosai, and worked their way through Nippon from there, eventually leading into the tale of the Sun Goddess purging them all before striking down Yami himself. We both know this story up and down, Nobunaga. Any particular reason why you're choosing to remind me of it?" Kurenai demanded to know.

There was a brief silence on Nobunaga's side, before he eventually spoke, "…When we questioned them about the attack on Idaina-Yosai, the demons never reported having found anything of particular interest, did they?"

Kurenai was beginning to guess what the Lord of the Black Hand was suggesting, but just to be sure, he narrowed the four glowing red "eyes" of his full head-encasing helmet and asked, "Just what are you getting at, Nobunaga?"

"It seems a tad…_convenient,_ wouldn't you say? That the demons never found this this cavern, and the artifact within it, despite having completely ransacked the place?"

"Maybe they just missed it."

"And maybe they _CHOSE NOT TO TELL US_!" Nobunaga suddenly roared, making Kurenai flinch involuntarily before he stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"…You would agree with me, Kurenai, that although there are many demons that are clumsy and stupid, there are many, _many_ more that are both intelligent and cunning?" he finally spoke, resuming his pacing motion with his arms folded behind his back.

Kurenai merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"There is no doubt in my mind that they found this place, Kurenai…" Nobunaga rasped, stopping to stare at the archway again. "They found it, and sealed it away again."

"Even if that's true, why would they deliberately choose not to tell us about such a find?"

"Perhaps they intended to force us to increase our reliance upon them…them, and their wretched demon gates," Nobunaga growled.

Kurenai could only nod in agreement. The demon gates were slow and painfully difficult to manifest for the trip between the Land of Darkness and Nippon, and even then could only be placed in certain locations considered…_corrupted_ enough.

"Or maybe they're intentionally trying to stall our progress," Kurenai finally spoke up. "Trying to keep us from finding a better future for our people, by forcing us to rely on _their_ gates in order to travel to and from Nippon."

"Then we think alike on this matter, my most loyal and trusted soldier," Nobunaga stated, adjusting his cloak. "But regardless of their reasons, I intend to have a long and wholesome talk with the so called 'commander' of the demon army."

"I see…but are you certain that Orochi will give you the answers you seek?"

"He will, or he will suffer a fate worse than death. The Black Hand holds dominance over his spirit, Kurenai…he will speak so long as he remembers that little fact," Nobunaga spoke evilly. "I intend to get to the bottom of this…but in the meantime, I want your underlings to continue their work here."

Striding back in the direction of the staircase, Nobunaga spoke over his shoulder, "Have the scribes learn all they can about the artifact…and when they are finished, have it disassembled and brought to the shogun. You know the importance of this discovery as well as I do, Kurenai…it would be in our best interest not to squander this opportunity."

"By your word, my lord."

Nobunaga continued towards the staircase that would carry him back up to the Takeda shogun…but stopped in the entrance of it.

"Oh, I almost forgot Kurenai…how did your little escapade involving the Sword-Wielder go?"

Behind him, Kurenai visibly stiffened.

He had secretly been dreading the moment when Nobunaga inevitably asked him about the assured victory that had somehow turned into a massive failure at the last moment, and had been trying to think up an excuse the entire time beforehand…but now that the Master had put him on the spot, he suddenly found himself short on words.

"I…uh…yes, well, about that…"

He flinched when he heard Nobunaga's bootsteps, a clear indicator that the Lord of the Black Hand had turned around and was currently boring holes in his back with a piercing gaze.

"Hmm? Something you wish to tell me, Kurenai?"

The assassin commander suddenly realized just how hot it was inside all of his armor, and he could feel streaks of sweat making their way down his face from within the massive helm encasing his head and neck.

He felt Nobunaga's presence behind him, and dreading what was about to happen, slowly turned to look at the Lord of the Black Hand…face to face with the devilish grin of his faceplate.

Nobunaga visibly sighed, and spoke, "…He escaped, didn't he?"

Kurenai gulped, and slowly nodded. "H-he…er…had more _help_ than…I was expecti-_AAAAAGHHH!_."

The loud scream that suddenly echoed through the cavern proved to be an excellent representation of the pain one felt when one's arm was suddenly grabbed and twisted around behind them to the breaking point.

"_Help?_ He had more HELP than you were expecting?" Nobunaga scoffed, sounding oddly calm as the assassin commander writhed in his almost casual looking one-handed grip. "Oh _please, _Kurenai, I expected more of you!"

"Master, please, I did my- GAAAAHHH!" Kurenai tried to rapidly explain, before another twist of the arm cut him off.

"I send you on a simple task to kill a boy, barely into his adult years, and he gets away because he had _help?"_

"IT WAS THE DAMNED WOLF!" Kurenai wailed, and the pressure stopped increasing.

"Hmm? The Goddess of the Sun?" Nobunaga inquired, sounding slightly intrigued.

"She…she was the reason he got away! She was powerless one second, and then attacked me with all her force the next! I swear to you, my lord, I would have succeeded beyond a doubt had it not been for her and those damned kitsune!"

There was silence on Nobunaga's end, before he released the pressure on Kurenai's arm, the assassin gasping as he stumbled forward and held the painfully sore limb with his other arm.

"_So he is already drawing allies to himself from among the kitsune?" _Nobunaga thought to himself, as Kurenai nursed his painful limb. _"Hmph…just like a Sword-Wielder to align himself with those damned foxes. His abilities must be progressing more quickly than I anticipated."_

The assassin commander finally managed to get his composure back and stood up straight, cradling his painfully throbbing arm, just in time for Nobunaga to stomp up to him and snarl, "Where is he now? Can you prove your usefulness in THAT regard, at least?"

"Y-yes, my lord. One of my scouts I sent in pursuit of him managed to bring back information of his location…shortly before he died from an infected arrow wound in his leg," Kurenai remarked callously. "He said the boy had been taken to a place in the forest located near the river leading out of this cave."

"And that helps us _how?"_

"It is a place that kitsune undoubtedly inhabit…he was quite clear on that before he expired. With that bit of knowledge in mind, and some elbow grease, it should be a simple matter of finding it."

"…Hmph. Is that so?" Nobunaga replied skeptically. "And just how do you intend for us to find a place inhabited by a breed of creature whose entire existence revolves around trickery and the confounding of the minds of men?"

"I WILL find them, Lord Nobunaga…you have my word on it!" Kurenai spoke.

Nobunaga seemed unconvinced, and said, "…I sense something else to this…why the sudden enthusiasm, Kurenai?"

Despite the pain in his arm, the assassin commander chuckled darkly, and said, "With all due respect, Nobunaga…I want another crack at the boy."

Beneath his faceplate, the Lord of the Black Hand smirked. "No prey eludes your blade twice, am I correct?" he quipped.

Kurenai's chuckle turned into a laugh, and he added, "Yes my Lord…and besides…who else to deal with kitsune than the Prime Hunter of the Black Hand?"

Nobunaga considered him for a moment, reading the assassin's body language…then finally nodded.

"Very well then…but Kurenai?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"I do not tolerate continued failure among my ranks. Make a habit out of this and I will _break your bones._ Is that understood?"

Kurenai managed to stifle a nervous gulp, and bowed his head. "Yes, my lord."

But Nobunaga was already gone…up the staircase and out the door of the shogun, his bodyguards moving to catch up with him as the workers he had sent out moved to get back to work.

His next stop: Orochi. The demon lord had some explaining to do…and Nobunaga would rip the answers from his very soul if he had to.

* * *

><p>"Uh…Waka? Why is this kimono so thickly padded?" Alex found himself asking, as the complete set of clothing was dumped in his lap.<p>

"It's rather chilly outside, mon ami. You should wear it to help ward off the cold…and besides, you wouldn't want to go wandering about in your underwear, would you?"

"…Point taken," the young man muttered, attempting to slip the garment on with his good arm several times before giving up and letting Waka do it for him while Ammy watched on.

"_Are you certain that you feel well enough to move about?" _she asked with concern in her voice. _"You may want to rest for another day or so and-"_

"Nah, I'm feeling alright, Ammy," Alex interrupted, gently swinging his legs over the side of the hammock and testing his footing before slowly standing up straight. "Some minor throbbing, maybe, but I really don't feel that bad, all things considering…"

She audibly huffed, making Waka smirk as he assisted Alex with the pants section of the outfit ("Keep your hands where I can see them, Fruit Basket!"), and finished tying off the sash, leaving Alex dressed in a well-made men's light blue kimono with his slung arm resting within the depths of the outfit and the empty sleeve hanging loosely at his side.

"Huh…not bad," the young man finally said, looking himself over. "It's gonna take some getting used to having only one working arm, though."

"_Not to worry. You should be right as rain before long," _Amunae's voice spoke in his mind, which drew Alex's attention to Aku-Hametsu, still propped up against the wall of the hut near his hammock and the pile of leather and metal plates that served as his armor.

"_Well, glad to hear it then. But I'm just happy we're finally out of those damn caves…"_ Alex responded, going over to the sword. _"At least there doesn't seem to be…any…"_

His voice trailed off, when he looked more closely at his piled armor and realized something wasn't quite right with it.

"…_permanent damage,"_ he finished slowly, bending down and grabbing one of the plates.

Lifting it up, he finally discovered the horrible truth…the leather padding that went under the metal plates was now bearing several extremely large cuts through it, many of which left the leather completely severed in some sections. It was as though someone had taken a knife to the padding and completely mutilated it…and that was even before he noticed just how horrible a condition the metal plates themselves were in: the chest and shoulder plates were dented beyond belief, bearing some heavy scoring from the various attacks and elemental disasters it had warded off.

Needless to say, the armor was _ruined,_ and now that he had finally gotten a good look at it, Alex found himself amazed that it had even held together as long as it had.

"…Well that's just _dandy,"_ he muttered, dropping the ruined armor piece and putting his hands on his hips, shaking his head all the while.

"_I'm sorry, Alex…"_ Ammy said, coming up beside him. _"It seems that, in order to get at your injuries in time, Yunalesca was forced to cut the armor from your body with her knife."_

"Hmmmmph…" Alex sighed through his nose. "I'm a little more worried about Gizo…he told me it was his best work, which probably means he's going to be totally _crushed_ when he finds out what happened to it."

"_I'm certain he will understand,"_ Ammy reassured him._ "For now…you should be glad that you're alive."_

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Alex acquiesced, trying to cross his arms before realizing that he couldn't and settling for resting his good arm atop his slung one instead. "All to save my life and stuff like that."

"We will find you another, mon ami!" Waka stated.

"Where? In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a freaking kitsune tribe, which means there's probably no metal armor for miles around! And don't ask me to settle for just plain leather, because there's no in hell that stuff's gonna protect me from scythe-wielding _freaks_ like Kurenai!"

"_Patience, young one," _Amunae spoke up. _"This place may yet hold some secrets, and you may be surprised by what you find within it."_

"_So you're saying that I'm gonna have to go on some kind of scavenger hunt then?"_ Alex replied in a snarky tone of voice.

"_That is not what I meant."_

"_Be more specific, then, fox-face."_

"_Oh, I shall."_

"_If you two are quite finished…"_ Ammy cut in, pulling Alex away from his little argument, _"While I was outside, a messenger came to me, saying that the Chieftain of this village would like to speak with Alex and I once he awoke. Considering the hospitality that this village has shown us thus far, it would be rude of us to keep him waiting."_

"Quite so, ma Cherie," Waka spoke up. "Feeling up for a little walk, Monsieur Alex?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I'm not too keen on just walking through the middle of a village of kitsune. We're gonna stick out like a sore thumb here!" Alex complained.

"_So be it then," _Ammy spoke, sounding unworried as she turned with a flick of her tail and padded towards the entrance. _"Come along, Alex."_

"Ugh…coming…" Alex muttered, falling into line behind the white wolf and leaving Waka behind in the hut with all his belongings.

Fortunately, his uncertainty about the place he was about to go through was forgotten the moment he stepped out the door and beheld Kawa Village in its entirety.

"Holy…" he whispered, stopping next to Ammy as the two of them took in the sight.

(_Assassin's Creed 3 OST – Connor's Life_)

From what he could see, the entire village seemed to be set along a very large stretch of lightly sloping ground at the foot of an extremely tall mountain. This lightly sloped ridge, which they were standing near the top of, appeared to be within the confines of a somewhat shallow, bowl-shaped valley set between many different mountains, filled to the brim with trees that made up a thick forest. Many of these trees also filled the village…or rather, the village seemed to fill the forest, as the trees vastly outnumbered the few huts that he could spot in between them. From where he stood, he could also hear the faint sound of running water in the distance, giving proof to the words that Amunae had told him about these particular foxes being River Kitsune.

Looking behind him, further up the mountain, Alex could also see some kind of large, winding pathway leading up the steeper parts of the mountainside, towards some kind of larger and more permanent looking hut at the very top, inside some form of indent within the side of the mountain that allowed it a totally uninterrupted view of the valley below…obviously, a dwelling for someone important within the tribe.

It all had the feel of something…_mysterious._ Like some kind of "hidden valley", a place separate from the world around it.

It felt…peaceful. Serene, yet with an underlying sense of strength and dignity to it.

"…So this is Kawa Village, huh?" Alex finally spoke, after taking it all in.

Amaterasu nodded. _"Home of the River Kitsune, possessing the most legendary of healers among the kitsune tribes."_

"Where'd you hear _that_ from?" Alex asked, already knowing himself from Amunae, but curious as to how Ammy knew about such things.

"_We HAVE been here for three days thus far, Alex…it only makes sense that I would have heard a thing or two about our gracious hosts in that time."_

"Right…ok, then. Let's get going. Shouldn't keep the chieftain waiting, right?"

"…_Yes, I suppose. Follow me."_

Walking behind the wolf, Alex found the two of them descending into the trees below, and he asked, "Uh…shouldn't we be heading the other way? Like, up the mountain to that big hut above us?"

"_Normally, yes, but I heard that Chieftain Keikai likes to walk among his "subjects" during this part of the day…sort of a morning routine for him. Therefore, we shall find him down here eventually if we search around."_

"I don't know…this forest looked pretty big from what I saw up there."

"_Don't worry. I should be able to sniff him out," _she replied, putting her nose to the air as they continued walking. Passing by several huts, many of them lit up by the beams of sunlight filtering through the trees, Alex could see the inhabitants of the village going about their business, many of them stopping and staring as the two of them went by.

All of them were in their various forms, either humans wearing their kitsune masks and matching light blue kimonos, or multi-tailed foxes lounging about in the shade of the trees…but none of them seemed particularly pleased or angry with the two outsiders walking through their village, judging from the expressions that Alex could see upon their faces.

It was with a neutral outlook that Alex and Ammy were regarded…two strangers in a land they didn't entirely belong. Alex simply hunched his shoulders and kept walking, all too aware of the many pairs of eyes both seen and unseen boring holes into them as they went.

"Sheesh…friendly place, huh?" he sarcastically remarked to Ammy.

"_Steady, Alex…they are simply unaccustomed to outsiders. They will become used to your presence here eventually."_

"_I hope your right…I REALLY hope your right…" _Alex replied. _"…because I'm getting that 'new kid in school' vibe all over again."_

She simply chuckled, appearing as unconcerned as usual.

"Find him yet?" the young man eventually asked several minutes later, the trees around them growing thick and close together as they entered the more heavily forested areas of the valley, and the gentle burble of the river sounding close by.

"_Almost…be patient,"_ was all she would say, putting her nose to the ground and sniffing around a bit. _"I need only a moment."_

It was Alex's turn to huff at this bit of news, and moved off to the side as he looked around the forest a bit, hearing the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves in the light, yet chilling mountain wind that was no doubt blowing off of the highest peaks of the mountains surrounding them.

"_Pretty nice place, if it weren't for all the suspicious neighbors around…" _he thought. _"I bet Oki and Issun would agree with me if they were here right now."_

Pacing about, his gaze focused on the shifting branches above, he didn't notice the tiny glint of metal that suddenly flew from the nearby bushes until his foot bumped it and made him look down.

"_Huh?"_

Spotting it laying in the forest grass, Alex bent down and picked it up in his hand, looking closely at it.

A gold yen coin. A pretty valuable piece of currency from what he had learned during his time in Nippon.

Looking about for where it could have possibly originated from, Alex spotted another glint on the edge of the brush surrounding him and Ammy…another gold yen coin, lying innocuously in the grass.

Going up to that one and picking it up too, Alex again spotted one further ahead, leading further into the trees…and another beyond that.

"_Does someone have a hole in their wallet or something?" _Alex mused to himself. _"'Cause they seem to be losing a lot of money here…"_

Sneaking a quick glance back at Ammy, who was still busy sniffing around, Alex looked back to the trail of gold yen coins ahead of him and thought, _"Ah…what the hell. Might as well find who's losing all this money. I don't think anything's gonna jump me here anyways…"_

Pushing into the thick brush ahead of him, Alex followed the trail of coins deeper into the forest, gathering them up as he went…and unconsciously leaving Ammy behind.

"_Ah, there we are!"_ Ammy finally declared, having found the correct scent she was looking for. _"He should be this way!"_

Looking around for the young man, she suddenly realized that he wasn't there anymore.

"…_Alex?"_

* * *

><p>"…<em>And that make twenty-two…"<em> Alex thought, as he gathered up another coin, his hand full of the golden pieces as he continued following the trail of money through the forest, his focus on finding the little pieces of metal making him unaware of where he was going within the forest.

"…_Twenty-three…"_

"_Hee hee hee hee…"_

Alex's head snapped up at the sudden sound of giggling, and his gaze immediately searched around as he peered through all the forest growth for the source of the sound.

"…_Is someone out here with me?"_ he thought suspiciously.

"_Hee hee hee, oh ho ho ho…"_ the giggle came again.

From what he could tell, it definitely sounded feminine in nature, and was coming from somewhere…above him?

"Uh…hello?" he called out, searching the tree branches.

Nothing.

"_I must be hearing things…"_ he thought, walking to the next coin in line and picking it up. _"…Twenty-four…"_

"_Hee hee hee!"_

"_There it is again!" _he thought, looking back up, and again spotting nothing. _"Who's making that sound?"_

Little did he know that, in the following moments, his question would be answered.

_SNAP!_

"_ACK! _OH NO! LOOK OUT!"

Hearing the shout from directly above him, Alex looked straight up…just in time for something to land on top of him.

"_WHOOF!"_ he yelled, as the air was expended from his lungs…and he caught a brief glimpse of all the gold coins that had been in his hand flying into the air, glittering as they caught the sunlight…

…and suddenly, he found himself covered in…_dead leaves?_

One heaving cough escaped him, and all of the leaves covering his face flew off in the following poof of air, followed by several more coughs as his lungs finally began to catch up to what had just happened.

"…Ow," was the first thing he said, the moment he could speak again. Slowly and achingly propping himself up on his elbows, Alex looked up…

…and saw her.

"…_Holy Jesus…"_ he breathed inwardly, not trusting himself to speak.

It was a kitsune, that much was certain…but she was unlike any kitsune he had seen before, save for the form he took on whenever Amunae possessed him. She had the same relative body structure of a human, but she was entirely foxlike in appearance…fur covered her body, her three tails were splayed out over her digitigrade limbs, and her hands and footpaws all had padding on them similar to an actual fox's. Claws tipped each of her fingers and toes, not to mention the sharp teeth that were within the long and narrow muzzle that made up most of her foxlike face…a face that he could actually see, due to the mask that seemed to have fallen off beside him.

Beautiful and dangerous…and she was lying on top of him.

"_Mmmmff…" _she wheezed, rubbing her handpaw over her face as she lifted herself off of his chest…and then suddenly seemed to realize what had just happened.

She quickly looked around, appearing to panic slightly, right up to the point she looked straight at him, directly into his eyes.

They lay there and stared at each other for a moment, before Alex managed to gather up enough of his bearings to say one, very important thing:

"Uh…hi?"

(_Tsubasa OST – A Tiny Sunshine_)

In a flash, she leapt off of him and dashed into the forest, scattering leaves in her wake as she tore off faster than anything he had seen before…leaving her mask behind in the process.

"H-hey! WAIT!" he yelled, scrambling onto his feet as quickly as he could with his damaged arm and gathering up the kitsune's mask as he took off after her.

In the back of his mind, he knew that this was ridiculously crazy in a way: chasing a kitsune that was undoubtedly faster than him, through a forest that he knew next to nothing about, all to return a mask that he wasn't sure she actually wanted back badly enough to face him again. And yet, something drove him onwards, following her as fast as he could, barely spotting brief flashes of her tails whipping about behind her as she swiftly and agilely darted around the trees and brush that Alex found himself having to plow through more often than not.

Eventually coming into another small clearing, Alex pulled to a stop, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath before standing back up straight and looking around for her in the forest, eventually throwing his hands up in exasperation…and completely unaware of the fact that she had emerged from the trees behind him, arms folded behind her back as she quietly sashayed up behind him, silently remaining directly behind him even as he turned circles trying to find where she had gone.

Had he known she was there, he might have seen the toothy, mischievous smile upon her face, the tip of her tongue sticking out from between her teeth like she was blowing a silent raspberry at him. Eventually tiring of this, she reached out deliberately with her clawed hand and quickly plucked the mask from his own, letting out an amused giggle when he suddenly whipped about and caught a glimpse of her quickly slipping it back on before taking off again.

Making a very exasperated sound and shaking his head, Alex ran after her again, becoming vaguely aware of the fact that this was quickly becoming less of a chase and more of her baiting him on…but it was too late for him to stop now. He was fully caught up in the spirit of it all, and found himself being driven on to try and find her, the only things hinting at her passage being a quick glimpse of her around a tree or her delighted giggles.

Several minutes later, his lungs finally giving out, Alex was eventually forced to come to another stop. Falling against a tree and wheezing heavily, thinking, _"JESUS, she can run fast!", _he soon realized that he had lost her in the maze of the forest again.

"_Well, at least she's got her mask back, wherever she is now. But…I would've liked to meet her at least…"_ he eventually thought, feeling a little disappointed that he hadn't even gotten a good look at her before she had vanished.

(_Fairy Tail OST – Mirajane's Theme_)

Letting off a sigh, Alex turned around to try and make his way back to Ammy…

Then he heard it.

_Singing._

There seemed to be no words to what he could hear; only tones and inflections…singing for the sake of singing.

It was a beautiful, melodious voice…one that seemed to twist through the trees like the wind, the soft notes dancing around him in the air.

He unwittingly felt himself being drawn towards it.

Through the trees and brush, across stretches of dirt and grass, his path wound about as the voice seemed to guide him…to pull him towards its owner, almost like a siren song, even though Alex didn't really feel like he was in any danger.

Perhaps another effect of the music…but at this point, he didn't really care. He _had_ to find the source of it.

Emerging from the woods into another clearing, he realized that he had found the river, wide but shallow as the water flowed by gently.

And he saw her.

She was sitting atop a small outcropping of rock above the water, her body framed by a ray of golden sunlight…and now that he finally had a good look at her, he realized that her fur was a brilliantly icy shade of white…so white, in fact, that it almost seemed like a light blue in color, the same color as frozen snow in bright moonlight. The fur on her hands and footpaws, visible due to her rather revealing light blue kimono, had more of a grey color to them, as did the faded rings bordering the tips of her tails…but the brilliant head of hair she had, flowing down her back all the way to her waist, was completely untouched by the grey colors, and almost seemed to be _sparkling_ with an icy quality in the sunlight.

She was currently washing her hair, scooping up handfuls of water and combing them through it with her handpaws as she continued to sing, bringing the young man closer to her until he was standing at the food of the large rocks she was sitting upon.

"Uh…h-hello?" he finally forced himself to speak.

She turned, just barely enough to look at him over her shoulder…and she gave him a sweet little smile, turning back to the river as she continued to sing in her beautiful, harmonic voice.

Unsure of whether he should proceed forward or not, Alex nonetheless found his body moving of its own accord, clambering up the rocks towards her until he was standing almost right next to her.

"Um…uh…" he began uncomfortably, his throat feeling dry from his nervousness. "I…uh…I-I think you…uh…dropped your mask."

She said nothing, and only continued to sing.

"B-but…um…you probably already knew that…since you took it back and all…" he trailed off, rapidly losing his nerve and considering the possibility of going back into the forest before he screwed _something_ up.

As if she knew this, the kitsune stood up and gently shook her handpaws off, the song winding to a close as she finished her little chore and slowly turned to face him, her three long tails gently swishing about behind her.

"…Well…" she finally spoke, her normal voice sounding no less amazing than her singing voice, "…I figured that since you went to so much trouble to retrieve it for me, I should at least thank you in person instead of running off and leaving you to wander about in the forest."

"Oh…! Uh…yeah! I-I mean…you're welcome!" he sputtered, butchering his sentence horribly as his mind tried to catch up with the situation at hand.

She idly played with the tips of her tails, staring at him out of the corners of her brilliant icy blue eyes with the corner of her mouth turned up into another sweet smile, before she eventually said, "You seem…tense. Would you like to sit down for a moment?"

"Yeah…sure…" he answered, sitting down a little awkwardly due to his own good arm as she came over and sat down beside him…close enough that it made him sweat a bit along the back of his neck.

"How is your arm feeling?" she asked him, holding out her handpaw and gesturing to his slung arm.

"It's…good…I think…" he replied slowly, trying not to bite his lower lip when she began to feel over it.

Noticing his tenseness, she said, "Relax, Alexander…I am not going to bite you. I am above such barbaric practices."

"Wait, you…you know me?"

"Of course I do!" she responded cheerily. "I _have_ been the one tending to you all this time, after all."

"Then…you're Yunalesca?"

She smiled sweetly again, and nodded. "At your service."

"Wow, uh…" he said, unsure of how to respond. "Um…nice to…finally meet you. Er…was that you that I saw when I woke up those three days ago, or was that someone else, or…?"

"It was I…" she replied, finishing her examination and letting him have his arm back. "I was rather surprised to see you waking up already, despite your injuries…but regardless, it was far too early. I had to put you back to sleep so your recovery would be more effective."

"Well, it sure worked," he sort of chuckled, growing a bit more comfortable now that she and him were actually talking. "Uh…thanks for taking care of me, by the way."

"It was nothing I could not handle…but you are welcome. Your wounds were severe, but I have dealt with such injuries before."

"Yeah?"

She nodded, looking straight ahead as she put her handpaws on her knees and leaned back a bit. "I have treated many of your kind before…this was no different, save for the way you arrived in our village."

"How I arrived…? Well, how did I get here anyways?"

"I carried you."

"YOU carried me?" Alex exclaimed. "Well…geez, you didn't have to do THAT much!"

"Perhaps not…but I did so anyways. It was no trouble, I assure you."

"Well, again, thanks. I really appreciate it, considering you saved my life and all!" he chuckled.

She smiled and nodded again in acceptance, before looking into the sky and appearing to examine the sun's position in it.

"Ah…it seems to be time for your daily medicine," she declared, reaching down and bringing up what Alex realized was a large shoulder satchel of some kind. Opening it up, she reached in and pulled out what looked like some kind of corked flask, popping said cork off and handing it to him.

"Drink that…it will help with your injuries, I assure you."

Sniffing at the flask a bit, Alex shrugged and tipped it up, drinking a few sips from it before smacking his lips a bit awkwardly and saying, "This is the same stuff you gave me three nights ago, isn't it? What exactly is it?"

"It is _soba…_an elixir, the recipe of which has been passed down in my family for generations," she explained, gesturing for him to drink more as she continued to talk. "It strengthens and supports the natural flow of ki – your life force – within your body. Drink this once each day, and your injuries will heal in days instead of weeks, your broken arm included."

"Really?" Alex inquired, genuinely impressed by that figure. "Geez, handy stuff then. Why the heck don't you mass produce this stuff?"

"I…beg your pardon?"

"Nothing, nevermind," he laughed, finishing off the flask and handing it back to her.

There was a bit of silence between them, Yunalesca seeming content to watch the birds flit about in the treetops above while Alex tried to think of something else to say.

"So…what exactly was all that back there?"

"Hmm?" she responded innocently.

"You know…the gold coins…and you falling on top of me."

"_Hee hee hee…"_ she giggled suddenly, before she realized what she was doing and hurriedly moved to cover her mouth.

"I…er…" she began, sounding a bit nervous herself now. "I…may have been…using you for practice."

"_Practice?_ For what?" he demanded to know.

"…For my trickery."

A smile broke out on Alex's face as he realized what she was getting at.

"You were trying to play a kitsune trick on me, weren't you?" he declared, pointing a mock-accusatory finger at her.

"A _trick?_ I have no idea what you are talking about!" she sniffed.

"Aaaaah, I think you _were_ trying to trick me!" he laughed, deciding to press the advantage. "You were trying to lure me into something with all those dead leaves disguised as gold yen coins, weren't you?!"

Unable to contain her mirth, she broke out into the sweetest and most pure laugh he had ever heard from a woman before.

"Alright, you caught me!" she squealed gleefully, throwing her hands up in surrender. "But how could I resist when you were wandering about so cluelessly with your wolf friend? You probably would have run your head into a tree without her guiding you!"

"Oh, geez, Ammy!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, realizing that he had left the wolf behind as he stood up. "Crap! We were supposed to meet the chieftain and I just freaking left her behind! Geez, where is she now?!"

As if on cue, another voice cut through the forest, this one masculine in nature. _"Yuna! Yuna, where are you hiding this time?"_

"Ah, do not worry. Here comes my father now!" Yunalesca said cheerily, as Alex nodded…and then suddenly did a double take at her.

"W-wait! Your dad…he's the _chieftain?"_

"Well, of course! Why would he not be?" she spoke matter-of-factly.

"_Yuna, you had better not be cavorting around with that human, or so help me…!"_ the voice yelled, closer this time…and suddenly, Alex felt very unsure about his situation.

"Oh…oh dear…" Yunalesca spoke quietly, sounding not so cheerful anymore. "I forgot…"

"Forgot?! Forgot _what?!"_ Alex snapped.

"My father…does not hold humans in the highest regard, nor does he think well of outsiders."

"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"Well you never asked!" she exclaimed innocently, making Alex want to facepalm in the face of such _infallible_ logic.

"_Yuna, I know you are here! I can smell you all over this place!"_

"Well what do I do then?! I don't want to stick around and get skinned alive!"

"He wouldn't _dare_ skin you alive! Not as long as I am here, at least!" she snarled suddenly, making Alex stare at her quizzically, before she calmed down and spoke, "…Perhaps it would be best if you were simply not seen with me yet…my father is still a tad angry with me."

"For what?"

"I will explain later! For now, just go, before he sees you!" she laughed, making the whole situation seem a lot more comically tense than it actual was.

"Alright, alright!" Alex finally said, getting up and heading back towards the forest. "But we're meeting up again later…right?" he added, sounding almost…hopeful?

She smiled and nodded again. "I will see you at my hut tonight. We can discuss more there."

Nodding, Alex turned and dashed back into the forest…running almost headlong into Ammy, who just happened to be going the opposite direction.

"_Alex! THERE you are! You had me worried sick!" _she exclaimed, skidding to a stop on her paws. _"Where were you?!"_

"Uh…getting to know the locals?" Alex responded lamely, rubbing the back of his neck and hoping he was far enough away that his voice wouldn't be heard.

"_Well it will have to wait!" _she declared, biting into the hem of his kimono and trying to pull him along. _"You need to come with me NOW! They've found Oki and Issun!"_

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><p><strong>Gasp! Fluffy stuff!<br>**

**And ****GASP! Oki and Issun make their return! Tune in next chapter to see what happens!  
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**(Rate, review, check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time!)  
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	40. Guests, or Outsiders?

**I'm back, everyone! Sorry for yet another late update, but as some of you might know from checking my dA journal, Christmas season has been particularly hectic for me this year, and progress on this chapter was brought to a near-standstill as a result. To my younger readers, trust me: when you get to be my age, Christmas becomes a LOT more complex than just waiting for the 25th to get your presents. You gotta actually get presents for your friends and family, you gotta consider what would be the right gift to get them, and all that stuff. Trust me, it's time consuming at the very least.  
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**Ah, but enough of me ranting. Here's the chapter that I'm sure you've all been waiting a long time for!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 38: Guests, or Outsiders?<strong>

"_Excuse me…pardon me…" _Ammy said apologetically as the white wolf attempted to weave her way through the mixed crowd of masked humans and foxes that had gathered in a large group around her destination, near the boarders of the village within the thicker part of the forest.

She wasn't making much progress however…at least, not until Alex stepped past her, cleared his throat, and promptly yelled "MOVE, DAMMIT!"

_That_ got the crowd's attention, and with looks ranging from surprise to annoyance, the kitsune moved aside to make a path for the young man and his Sun Goddess companion.

Staring after Alex in surprise, Ammy nonetheless shook her head in mild exasperation at the young man's 'methods' and padded after him, stopping next to him within the center of the crowd where several figures were. A few of them looked to be kitsune guards in human form, one kneeling down by a prostrate and unmoving form…a blue and red-furred wolf.

"_OKI!" _Ammy cried out, immediately going up the wolf and sniffing around his muzzle in some wolfish form of making sure he was alright.

"Jesus Christ, what happened to him?!" Alex demanded to know, kneeling down as well and checking the wolf over for any visible wounds. From what he could see, the wolf wasn't physically injured save for dust and debris-ridden fur that looked like it hadn't been washed in a week, and what appeared to be severely worn-down pads on his paws, no doubt from standing and walking on them for too long.

"We found him passed out on the bank of the river that forms the boarder to our village," one of the guards spoke. "He was half-dead from exhaustion…but he had a companion that was still conscious. This companion of his…er…_attacked_ us, if such a thing could be said. Regardless, during his 'assault', he kept bringing up several names rather loudly before we were forced to subdue him, which is ultimately why we chose to bring both him and the wolf into the village."

"_What were they?" _Ammy spoke up, a mixture of concern and confusion in her amber eyes.

The guard was about to speak, when a loud snarl suddenly cut through the crowd's murmuring…and immediately, the group surrounding them scattered as though a live grenade had suddenly been thrown amongst them.

Looking up, Alex got his first good look at what could only have been the one being he had begun dreading to meet only minutes before, during his first real meeting with Yunalesca…Cheiftain Keikai.

"_What is the meaning of this?!"_ the enormous seven-tailed fox shouted, the swirling tribal designs twisting through his icy white fur making him look very intimidating. Alex, however, was more surprised than intimidated, when he noticed Yunalesca trailing behind who she had said was her father, a concerned look upon her face for more reasons than one as she threw a quick glance Alex's way.

All the guards present flinched at the volume of their chieftains voice, but surprisingly didn't back down in the slightest, which Alex found impressive considering how angry their leader appeared to be.

"Chieftain Keikai, I can explain-" one of them, the leader of the bunch, began to speak, before Keikai interrupted him.

"What were my specific orders?!" he snarled. "I told you, there are to be _no outsiders_ brought into Kawa Village, other than those I allow!"

"But Chieftain, I -!"

"First my daughter, and now _you!"_ Keikai interrupted again._ "_Does ANYONE even listen to me anymore?! How many do I have to banish from the village before all you louts UNDERSTAND?!"

"B-but…!"

"Do you care for NOTHING in this village?! Do you simply not care for our people's secrecy and the safety of our young?! Or is it that you WISH to be banished?!"

"Father_, ENOUGH!"_

The last shout came from none other than Yunalesca, who immediately stepped in front of the Chieftain and put her hands on her hips, which Alex realized made her look a lot more intimidating than what he first expected from the rather slim kitsune in her hybrid form.

"Clearly, he had a good reason!" she yelled at her father, showing absolutely no fear in the face of her father's large (and rather scary) form. "I would at least expect you to hear him out before making unfair accusations! For the Inari's sake, father, it is like I do not even _know_ you anymore!"

"Y-Yuna…!" he father sputtered, suddenly deflating a bit as he actually seemed to _quail_ in the face of his daughter.

"If no outsiders are truly allowed, then tell me why you eventually allowed the ones that _I brought!"_ she snarled back, taking a step forward with her three tails flared out angrily behind her. "Tell me why you also allow Uncle Ren and Auntie Miyu into the village on a daily basis! Are _they_ not outsiders as well? Are _they_ to be thrown out too?"

Keikai sputtered, appearing as though he _wanted _to say something, but couldn't bring himself to form a rebuttal against his own daughter. And seeing no rebuttal forthcoming, she turned away from him and gently said the lead guard, "Go on…tell us why you brought him here."

"Um…yes, well…" the guard began, appearing shaken up after getting yelled at by his superior, but still retaining enough of his wits to speak clearly. "…As I was saying, the wolf here had a small companion, who kept repeating two names during his…_attack_ upon us: _Alex and Amaterasu_, occasionally mixed with what we suspect were nicknames: Tinhead and Furball."

Alex and Ammy exchanged a glance, both of them realizing at once whom the guard was speaking of…a bit of body language that Yunalesca didn't miss.

"There father, you see? Clearly, the two _outsiders_ that the guards found were friends of Alex and Amaterasu here. You cannot turn them away, not now! Not when they clearly need our help!"

Keikai still seemed unconvinced, if his bristling fur from getting yelled at by his own daughter was any indication, so the young kitsune decided to pull out all the stops and make an offer he couldn't and _wouldn't _refuse.

"If you will not allow them under your own watch, then I will assume responsibility for them!" she declared. "I will take care of them, and make certain that they do not cause any trouble around the village!"

Keikai seemed to snap out of his funk, and immediately replied, "Yuna...my daughter…I have no doubt about your abilities, but _four_ at once? I highly doubt that even _you _could keep an eye on all of them!"

"I will ensure that they do not cause any problems for our village! _I swear it on the name of Inari!_"

There was a hushed gasp from the crowd around them, followed by intense murmuring of mixed emotions. Even Keikai seemed taken aback by her sudden declaration.

"_What the heck…?"_ Alex thought to himself. _"Why is everyone suddenly all shifty?"_

"Yuna…" Keikai breathed, sounding not so angry anymore. "Are…are you certain about that?"

Alex didn't miss the slight glance Yunalesca suddenly threw his direction…and neither did Keikai, who stared straight at him, his facial expressions nearly imperceptible thanks to his heavily decorated mask.

The young man inwardly gulped, wondering just what the heck he had been pushed into now, shortly before Keikai peeled his gaze away from the young man and spoke, "…Very well then. If you are absolutely certain about that, then…I suppose I cannot deny an oath made upon the Greatmother's name."

Yunalesca smiled, and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, father. I promise not to let you down."

"Hmph…" Keikai muttered, turning and padding off a short distance, muttering to himself and throwing a sideways glance at Alex as he passed by and eventually settled down on the ground to keep an eye on the proceedings.

"…_Ok…what just happened?"_ Alex mentally asked Ammy, feeling a bit nervous due to the fact that the chieftain kitsune's eye was undoubtedly on him at that moment. However, Amaterasu immediately hushed him as Yuna turned back to the group and nodded reassuringly towards the guard that had been speaking earlier.

Appearing immensely grateful, said guard proceeded to pull out a leather sack from behind him…one that appeared to be shifting and bouncing about wildly.

"_Lemme outta here, ya fox-faced wenches!" _everyone in attendance heard a tiny, muffled voice yell. _"I swear, when I get outta here and find Ammy, you're all gonna be in for a WORLD of hurt! You hear me?! Hello?! HELLO?!"_

"_Issun…"_ Ammy breathed. _"Well for goodness sakes, let him out!"_

The guards exchanged glances of their own, before the lead one spoke, "…Are you certain that is entirely wise, Great Wolf?"

"_Oh for heaven's sake! He will calm down when he sees me! Now let him out before he hurts himself!" _she snapped, to which the guard shrugged and, holding the opening away from his face, pulled off the drawstring.

Immediately, a tiny ball of green light shot out of the leather pouch like it had been fired from a cannon, followed by the unmistakably tiny voice of Issun the Poncle.

"Alright, now we're talking! Prepare to meet the business end of my trusty Denkomaru, ya fox-faced wenches!" he yelled, landing on Wolf-Oki's prostrate form and pulling out his toothpick-sized blade with a tiny _schwing!_

"_Issun!" _Ammy spoke, trying to calm the poncle down.

"Come on, who's first?! I've got plenty for all of ya!" Issun continued to yell, his form now glowing a bright red as he rapidly hopped up and down and waved his sword all around.

"_ISSUN!"_

"Don't worry, Ammy, I've got this under control! Just keep your head down and I'll -!"

Suddenly, Issun seemed to stiffen as though he had just realized something, and slowly turned his head to face the white wolf.

"I'll…uh…I'll…hmm…" the poncle muttered, quickly losing steam when he began to realize that the white wolf didn't seem to be in any danger.

"Pfff…" Alex scoffed, a wide grin appearing on his face as he was clearly amused by the spectacle of the poncle attempting to act all high and mighty. "Good to see you again, bug boy."

"Heh heh…uh…hey, Tinhead…and Ammy. Uh…guess you guys are alright, huh?" Issun chuckled nervously, suddenly appearing very out of breath as he warily examined the group around him, the surrounding kitsune also watching him with varying degrees of interest from their positions either in direct sight or from vantage points within the trees and brush.

Ammy smiled her lupine smile, immediately walking up and giving him a big lick, covering him in saliva again…a fact that he made apparent to everyone in attendance with his following rant about wolf spit and exactly how disgusting it was.

While Alex was busy stifling his amused chuckles, Yunalesca came forward, and the ranting instantly stopped as Issun laid eyes upon the undeniably beautiful kitsune.

"_Issun, this is Yunalesca, Chieftain Keikai's daughter and the healer of this village," _Amaterasu introduced. _"She will take care of you and Oki while the two of you recover from your journey."_

"…Uh-huh…" Issun muttered, clearly not paying any attention, and Alex's amusement was suddenly replaced with an urge to stomp the poncle flat when the he realized that Issun was staring directly at Yunalesca's chest and making no conscious attempt to hide it. Fortunately for the poncle, Alex's wrathful foot was stayed by concern over what it would do to poor Wolf-Oki's head (which Issun was standing directly atop of)…and at that moment, the last thing Alex wanted was to make the wolf-man's condition worse by accidentally curb stomping him.

"_Watch youself, you little pervert…"_ Alex growled inwardly, watching as Yuna bowed slightly in greeting with Amaterasu's introduction and (unintentionally) gave Issun a look down her kimono in the process, which in turn made the poncle's eyes visibly widen.

"Well, then, now that we are all introduced to each other…" Chieftain Keikai cut in, fortunately distracting Issun in the process, "…I do believe that Amaterasu, Mister Grey, and I have some business to attend to. If you two would please come with me, we can get this out of the way sooner rather than later…"

Throwing a sideways glace at Yunalesca, the kitsune nodded ever so slightly back at him, indicating that she would take care of Oki and Issun while he was away. Looking back to Ammy, the two of them moved to follow Keikai as he slowly sauntered away into the forest, the young man glancing back over his shoulder as Yuna hoisted the unconscious wolf over her shoulder and walked off back towards her hut, the tiny green light that was Issun following perhaps a little TOO closely.

* * *

><p>As the group emerged into what Alex realized was the same clearing on the bank of the river where he had first truly met Yunalesca, the young man nonetheless retained enough common sense not to mention anything about it as the Chieftain sat down on the bank and let several of his long tails drift in the water. Alex and Amaterasu simply stood there, waiting for him to speak first as a somewhat awkward silence opened up between the three of them.<p>

"_So is he just going to sit there and fish with his tails, or what?" _Alex mentally asked Ammy, to which the wolf shushed him again.

"Tell me, Amaterasu…" Keikai finally said, breaking the silence. "What does the image of the river mean to you?"

Without skipping a beat, which made Alex wonder if she had rehearsed this ahead of time, the Sun Goddess replied, _"To me, the river represents life. Wherever it flows, trees, grass, and other plants grow around it, drawing nourishment from its water. Settlements are created around it, growing and expanding the same way as plants do. It is river water that feeds crops and quenches thirst. It is river water that dying soldiers ask for…for they know beyond a doubt that it contains life. That is what the river means to me: life, in one of its many potent forms."_

Keikai nodded, appearing satisfied with the answer before turning to Alex.

"And what does the river mean to you, Alexander Grey, Wielder of Aku-Hametsu?"

"…_Huh? How does he know about…?"_ Alex began to think, before he realized that the chieftain was waiting for his answer.

"Uh…well…um…" he began lamely, rubbing the back of his head as Amaterasu glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "It's…uh…a body of water, formed over years of erosion from melting ice flowing off the tops of mountains?"

He had been speaking purely out of knowledge he had gleaned on geological formations from school, but even so, the explanation felt incredibly weak in the face of Ammy's incredibly well thought-out one.

Keikai stared at him with a neutral expression on his face, as though he were expecting more, but nonetheless nodded as he flicked his tails and scattered a few droplets of water on the grass.

"To me, the river represents the strength of moral fiber…" he spoke. "The ability to follow guidelines that have been set for it to follow, much like the banks on each side of it. The greater the river, the longer it has followed the guidelines – the rules – set out before it. Unchanging, and unyielding in its ability to do what it has done for centuries or more…"

He fell silent for a bit, staring at the gently flowing water behind him and watching the fish lazily swim by his partially submerged tails.

"That is what Kawa Village has done all these years, for centuries past…remained unchanging and unyielding, even as the world has changed around it. We remained unchanged when the Takeda clan fell to the demons and Orochi's and his minions lay claim to Nippon one hundred years ago…we remained unchanged when Nagi, and later, his descendent Susano destroyed Orochi…and we remained unchanged when you cleansed Nippon of the demonic threat and restored peace to the land, Amaterasu," he explained, his words gathering resolve as he spoke of what was undeniably his people's history.

"I wished to speak with the two of you, because I wished to tell you both something very important…" he continued, removing his tails from the river and striding forward until he was standing in front of them both.

"This village has remained untouched by war and strife, because we have remained unchanged all these years…and I will NOT allow the appearance of several _outsiders_ to destroy the foundation of what my people have prided themselves on for centuries and more!" he growled suddenly, making Alex gulp and look down submissively as Amaterasu simply continued to sit there and remain unintimidated. "My daughter is taking tremendous strides to help you and your friends, but do NOT take her kindness as a sign of weakness among my people!"

"_Of course not," _Amaterasu immediately replied. Alex kept his mouth shut.

"I expect the lot of you to NOT cause any trouble within Kawa Village, or I will have all of you thrown out, wounded or not! And do not even THINK of taking advantage of my people's hospitality!" Keikai continued to growl, making his point VERY clear as Alex and Ammy bobbed their heads up and down in agreement.

Withdrawing from his aggressive stance, Chieftain Keikai settled down and took a deep breath, eventually nodded as he calmed down.

"Good, then. I trust that you will enjoy your stay, however short it may be…with my daughter's skills in healing, that is," he spoke politely, which Alex found slightly out of character for him considering the side of the chieftain he had just seen. "That is all I wished to say for now."

Sharing a quick glance, Alex and Ammy simultaneously made a quick and respectful bow to him before turning tail and heading back in the direction of Yuna's hut.

"Oh, Alexander…a quick word, if I may."

Alex flinched, and Ammy looked at him with concern as he took a deep breath and pondered what Keikai could possibly say to him at this point.

"…Go ahead," the young man eventually spoke. "Check on Oki. I'll meet you back at the hut."

Casting one last glace at the patiently waiting Keikai, Ammy slowly nodded and padded off with an almost reluctant air. Alex, picking up on this, would have liked nothing more than for the wolf to stay by his side…but things just didn't work like that when someone asked to speak with you in private.

Slowly turning around, Alex was surprised when he found Keikai now standing uncomfortably close to him, a slight scowl upon his masked face that could only barely suggest what the fox was about to ask him next.

"If I may be so bold to ask…" he began, "…My daughter, Yunalesca…is there anything you wish to tell me about what might be going on between the two of you?"

Alex felt his blood immediately run cold. It was one of those things he never dreamed would happen to him, yet it was something he had been dreading ever since he had become old enough to go dating other girls: the angry, overprotective dad complex. Alex had seen enough TV shows, not to mention enough of Keikai, to know that if he said anything that Yunalesca's dad didn't agree with, it would be HIS ass on the line.

"Uh…n-no, there's…there's nothing going on," he finally managed to say, trying his absolute hardest to keep his cool.

"Oh? Are you certain of that?" the chieftain growled lowly, not quite angry, but it was enough to hint at what possible horrors awaited Alex if he screwed up.

"N-nothing. I'm…I'm dead serious on that. I just woke up today after sleeping for three days straight, so I didn't even have time to meet her. That's the truth!" he managed to belt out, raising his arms in a surrendering fashion.

"Good! Then stay away from her!" Keikai immediately snarled, stepping forward and making Alex back up until his back collided with a tree and halted his retreat. Putting his masked face right in front of Alex's, the kitsune snarled, "Because if I catch you doing ANYTHING unpleasant or unmentionable to her_,_ then I will _hunt you down like the animal you are._ Am I understood?"

"Y-y-yeah! Yeah! Crystal clear!" Alex stammered, making a shaky OK symbol with his hand.

A few more seconds of growling, and Keikai finally snorted once, causing his awful-smelling breath to wash over Alex's face before he backed off. "Good, then. You can leave now. I have nothing more to say to you."

"R-right…ok…" Alex breathed, letting out the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding as he scampered off as quickly as possible, making a beeline for Yunalesca's hut and feeling Keikai's eyes unshakably boring a hole into his back the entire way.

* * *

><p>"…<em>How is he?"<em> Ammy spoke, eyeing the blue and red-furred wolf as he lay there upon the pile of animal skins that Yunalesca had quickly laid out as an impromptu bed for him.

"For the most part, he seems alright," Yunalesca spoke, once again unaware that Issun was trying to maneuver into a position where he could stare down her kimono again…not that the article of clothing left much to the imagination, but still, Amaterasu felt an urge to leap forward and eat the poncle once again for not showing more concern over Oki's condition.

Fortunately for Issun, she quickly forgot about this when she heard Alex arrive, his heavy breathing indicating that he must have ran the entire way back up the ridge to catch up to her…not an easy feat, considering the broken arm that must have been slowing him down. Pushing aside the flap covering the entrance, Alex came in and did his best to suppress his panting, making Amaterasu wonder why on Nippon he had tried so hard to get back to her.

"…_Something Keikai said?" _she guessed, to which he waved his hand as an indication that she shouldn't worry about it, his shortness of breath preventing him from speaking out loud.

"Ah, hello Alex," Yunalesca spoke cheerily, her tone of voice sounding a bit out of place considering the circumstances. "Did you enjoy meeting my father?"

"He…uh…seems pretty persuasive, I'll give him that," Alex muttered in reply, sitting down on the ground next to them all and staring at Wolf-Oki. "So what's your 'official diagnosis'?"

The kitsune healer stopped her work and stared at him in obvious confusion over his wording, and he quickly added, "You know, what's wrong with him?"

"Oh…well, nothing really," she spoke, turning back to the comatose wolf. "As I thought, he simply pushed himself too far and too hard for his body to handle. Issun was just explaining to me how far he and your friend here came to find the two of you!" she added, gesturing to Issun, who immediately perked up at the mention of his name in obvious fear that his peeping efforts had been discovered.

"Personally, I am amazed his heart did not explode from all the exertion he put himself through!" she continued. "But I suppose he at least lives up to the Oina Tribe's reputation of strength and endurance under the harshest of conditions…not surprising, considering that demon blizzard that swept through Kamui about a year ago."

Standing up and leaning way over to grab a stack of woven bandages off of her worktable (and making both Alex and Issun marvel at her extreme athleticism, considering she did so on a single footpaw without the slightest loss of balance), the kitsune healer knelt back down and set to bandaging the damaged pads of Wolf-Oki's paws, eventually leaving the Oina Tribesman with some comedic white "stockings" that clashed horribly with his dark blue and red fur.

"All he needs now is rest, and time off of his feet. When he decides to wake up, though, is entirely up to him," she concluded, brushing her hands off.

"_Then it seems we are in your debt once again, Yunalesca,"_ Ammy remarked, nodding reverently in genuine thanks. _"Thank you for all the help you have given us…without your aid, I doubt things would have turned out so favorably for us."_

"Think nothing of it, Great Wolf. I am always happy to help," the fox replied, standing up once more and this time making a silent but perceptible nod of her head towards the outside to Alex, who in turn made some quick excuse about needing some more fresh air after his long sprint back and quickly turned to follow Yunalesca out, Ammy eying him a tad suspiciously as she watched him go.

Traveling a short ways down the ridge with Yunalesca, Alex couldn't help but begin to stare as he found himself admiring the slim contours of her shapely form, made all the more obvious by her slightly swaying gait as she slowly paced down the trail they were following, her three tails gently shifting behind her in an almost _hypnotizing _fashion.

Even in her preferred form of a humanoid fox, she was _undeniably_ beautiful…enough so that Alex actually started getting worried that he was finding a kitsune more attractive than a member of his _own species._

"_Oh, grow the hell up, Grey!" _he chastised himself, peeling his gaze away and trying to focus on the other scenery they were passing by. _"Just because you think she's attractive doesn't mean you're into her in THAT kind of way! For God's sake, Keikai just told you that he'd skin you alive if he caught you doing anything nasty with her! And besides that, isn't it bad enough that you already have a crush on freaking AMMY to boot?!"_

He would have gone further, had it not been for Yunalesca's sudden movement when she suddenly broke into a run and leapt up the side of a nearby tree, grabbing a handhold with her clawed fingers and gracefully sweeping herself up into a sitting position on a tree branch above him, her legs crossed as she stared down at him with an almost mischievous air.

"Pfff!" he scoffed. "Showoff."

"Why, whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently, laying down on said tree branch and somehow still maintaining perfect balance as her three tails swayed gently in the light mountain breeze.

"Uh, _hello?_ Broken arm?" he began, before suddenly just waving his good arm dismissively. "Ah, forget it…even with my left arm, I still probably couldn't do that…"

The sound of her giggling reached his ears, and he smirked slightly as he sat down at the base of the tree she was in and stared up at her, continuing to marvel at her incredible sense of balance as she suddenly stood straight up on the narrow limb and began pacing down to the very tip of it, her arms held gracefully out to either side.

"So tell me something!" she called down to him. "What do you _really_ think of my father?"

"Huh? Didn't I already tell you?" he replied, eyeing her confusedly.

"Yes, but I could tell you were not giving the entire truth…so tell me _honestly_ what you think of him!" she said, bending her knees and leaping straight up, using the rebound of the branch she had been standing on to launch herself up high enough to grab the next one above and hoist herself onto it.

"Well, alright! You want my honest opinion? _He's kind of a jackass!"_ Alex yelled as she continued to move higher.

"Well _that_ certainly comes as no surprise!" she called back, now about halfway up the rather tall tree as she leaned sideways off of the trunk and took in the view from her vantage point. "He tends to have that effect on people!"

"_You don't say!"_ Alex remarked sarcastically, cupping his good hand around his mouth to make himself heard…moments before she suddenly leapt off the side of the tree in a near leap of faith, making him gasp slightly right before she grabbed hold of another branch on an entirely _different_ tree and began to make her way back down to him.

"I DO say!" she replied with another of her light and airy laughs, lowering the volume of her voice as she came closer to his elevation. "Everything I said to him back there, I truly meant!"

"About how you don't even know him anymore, and all that stuff?"

"Yes…sad, is it not?" she replied simply, landing on the lowest branch of the tree which was conveniently positioned directly across the trail from where he was sitting and lying down on it as well, resting her head on her folded arms and staring down at him with that same amusing look of her partially sticking her tongue out at him between her fang teeth.

"I guess…I mean, he's your dad, right?"

"Perhaps, but as long as we are being honest…I think my father's view on things is a bit _skewed_."

"What do you mean? He's just trying to protect Kawa Village, right? I'm pretty sure he's got a right to keep strangers and outsiders out, considering he's just trying to keep things as peaceful as they've always been here," Alex remarked, keeping his tone carefully neutral.

"Is THAT what he told you?" Yunalesca remarked incredulously, lifting her head up. "…Well, as much as I wish that were true, I am afraid my father may have other things on his mind than just trying to keep the peace..."

"Huh? Like what?" Alex asked suspiciously.

She was silent for a moment, before slowly saying, "My father has been considering…_moving_ Kawa Village to a different location."

"…Really?" Alex said, standing up. "Is that serious?"

She stared at him like he was crazy or something, and Alex realized that it was a rhetorical question and that he should just shut up and listen for now.

"You have to understand, Alex…" she finally said. "…My father is not a bad person, nor is he a terrible parent…but what he is planning means uprooting my people's entire way of life, all for the sake of protecting us from the outside world."

"Well…geez," Alex muttered, rubbing the back of his head with his good hand. "I…uh…I hope I didn't cause any trouble related to that. 'Cause if I did, then…well…sorry."

She smiled sweetly again, which was a bit unexpected for him, and she jumped down to land in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me, Alexander…I highly doubt you will cause THAT much trouble for us," she said reassuringly.

"I dunno…trouble's had a way of finding me lately, you know?" he remarked. "And it's only gonna get worse with a broken arm and no armor to protect myself."

"Hmm…" she said muttered, rubbing the bottom of her muzzle thoughtfully the same way a person might rub their chin. "Well, if that is what you believe, then perhaps I could assist with at least one of those matters."

"Really?"

She nodded. "But…it may have to wait until your arm is all better," she added, looking at his slung limb. "Seeing as how it has already been healing for three days now, I imagine it will only take another day or two before it can be removed from the sling, so long as you continue to take your soba elixir."

Stepping back, she added, "In the meantime, I imagine that you will be spending some time within my people's village until you are well enough to travel long distances. If you would like, I could…show you around my home a bit tomorrow and help familiarize you with the terrain."

Seeing as how he didn't exactly have much else going on in the next few days, Alex didn't see any real harm in it and said, "Sure, I guess."

She clapped her hands together, another warm smile on her face, and said, "Excellent! How does early tomorrow morning sound for you?"

Alex smirked slightly in response, eyeing her a bit as he coyly said, "Well, gee, Yunalesca…

"Please, just call me Yuna. All of my friends do, after all," she cut in.

"Right...Yuna...well, when you say 'early tomorrow morning' like that, it sounds like you're asking me out on a _date_," he finished.

He smile was immediately replaced with a slightly quizzical look.

"I am…not familiar with that term…" she spoke slowly. "What is this 'date' you speak of?"

NOW Alex found himself in a real pickle. What had been an attempt to try and turn the proverbial table on Yunalesca had been utterly foiled by her innocence on the matter, and now Alex found himself in severe danger of his little quip backfiring on him.

"O-oh! Uh…well…it's, uh…" he suddenly stammered, trying to come up with some explanation other than the society-created fact that dates were usually seen as a cleverly disguised way for guys to try and get to first base. "It's…uh…basically, it's slang for a…a sort of a…_get-together_."

She stared at him, her eyebrow raised slightly, and repeated, "…A get-together?"

"Y-yeah, that's it! It's just a harmless get-together between friends…usually a guy and a girl! It's totally harmless, trust me!" he quickly blurted out.

She was silent for a moment as she continued to stare at him with her piercing blue eyes…before she suddenly smiled and nodded.

"Alright! A date it is, then!" she said cheerfully.

"Uh…great! I-I'll meet you tomorrow then!" he answered, wiping the sweat off his brow and letting out a relived sigh at having dodged a potentially lethal bullet.

"_Well, if SHE doesn't know what it means, then neither will her dad. I'll just keep this under wraps for now and see where this goes,"_ he thought, watching as she lightly skipped and danced down the trail, her three tails trailing through the air behind her.

"_Besides…"_ he continued. _"She seems nice enough. What could possibly go wrong, aside from getting torn a new one by her dad?"_

He thought of an answer right as he asked himself that question, and he smacked himself in the face the moment it came to mind.

"_Right. Considering what Amunae showed me when I was sleeping…it might just make Ammy jealous as all hell."_

* * *

><p>Returning to Yuna's hut and going inside, Alex was surprised to see Waka in there with both Ren and Miyu standing by him, the two kitsune in their fox-faced forms as they quietly listened to the conversation he and Amaterasu were having.<p>

"Ah, mon ami!" the Frenchman exclaimed. "You are just in time!"

"In time? For what?" Alex asked as he stood by Ammy, Issun bouncing around on his usual spot atop her head.

"Bah! Fruitcake's gonna run off again, just like always!" Issun exclaimed, making Alex snap a glance at him shortly before looking back to Waka.

"Huh? You're leaving? Already?" Alex pelted the Frenchman with questions, to which the long-haired blondie raised a hand to stop the tide.

"_Malheureusement, il est vrai._ Unfortunately, it is true. My business in Sei-an City was merely put on hold for this little errand, and seeing as how you are all safe and sound once again, it is time I got back to work as Captain of the Tao Troopers," he explained.

"_What KIND of business are you working on, anyways?"_ Amaterasu asked, to which Waka merely chuckled.

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out, ma Cherie!" he remarked, lightly popping her on the tip of the nose with his finger, making her sneeze and shake her head in an adorable sort of fashion. "Not to worry, though…I leave you all in the more than capable hands of Monsieur Ren and Madame Miyu!"

Before anyone else could respond, Waka turned on a heel and made for the door, speaking the words, "Until next time, mes amis! _Au revior!"_

Casting a quick glance at Ammy, who was a little too busy pawing at her nose to keep herself from sneezing again, Alex made to pursue the Frenchman, stopping just outside the hut's door and calling out, "Yo, Fruitbasket!"

Waka stopped and turned to face him, his eyebrow raised slightly as if to ask, _"Yes?"_

Alex realized at that moment the dozens of things he could have said to or asked Waka at that moment…like about the Moon Tribe's history with the Takeda Clan, or about the Frenchman's actual origins, or just how in the hell he had gotten Ren and Miyu to help him. But in the end, he settled for something simple.

"…I just wanted to say…thanks. We're even now, you hear me?"

Waka nodded…but even at this distance, Alex didn't miss the expression on Waka's face as the Frenchman met his gaze.

A hint of…sadness?

Regardless, that was all he got, because in an instant, Waka was gone, disappearing into the trees to parts unknown.

"_What was that about?" _Alex couldn't help but wonder.

* * *

><p><strong>Another one done. Also, something you guys might be interested in, I may possibly be doing a Christmas oneshot this year! I know I said the same thing last year, but this time I actually plan on attempting to make a serious effort in making one! I'll be sure to try and keep you guys posted on that.<strong>

**Rate, review, check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time!  
><strong>


	41. A Brief Conundrum

**ALL THE LATE CHAPTERS! *shot dead*  
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**Yes, I'm back. Christmas season is, once again, being a royal pain in the a**. Just ask my mom, she'll agree with me.  
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**Well, looking at things now, I've certainly got my work cut out for me. After this chapter posts, I'm gonna be steamrolling over to that Christmas oneshot that I said I would most likely do and writing the absolute HELL out of that, so keep an eye out for that around Christmas time!  
><strong>

**Also, not much action in this one (loads of fluff near the end, though), but I promise, the action's gonna pick up in the next one, so this long stretch of boring won't last forever! Huzzah! *shot again***

**And check out my profile page when you get the chance! There's a new bit of hilarious fanart done by The Great Mikey Weston that I think you all might enjoy!  
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* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 39: A Brief Conundrum<strong>

As the hours passed and the day slowly began to give way to night, the sun sunk behind the horizon in the distance, casting a warm, golden-orange hue across the sky. The valley's various inhabitants began to turn in at this time, leaving only the chirping crickets and a handful of stragglers to mosey about as the sunset finally became night.

Alex, being a man who appreciated a good night's sleep, was most certainly NOT one of these stragglers, having long since gone to bed in his now-usual spot in the hammock within Yuna's hut. Wolf-Oki still lay unconscious nearby, not yet recovered from his extreme physical exertion, and Issun slept up against his side, apparently having discovered that one wolf's fur coat made just as good a blanket as another's.

Amaterasu, however, was nowhere to be seen…not that anyone asleep in the tent seemed to mind…

…especially Alex, who was more preoccupied with other things at the moment.

"_Do you think you can run, mortal?"_

The young man twisted about slightly in his hammock, muttering something incoherent as his brow knitted with some unknown intensity.

"_Do you think you are safe, hiding behind your weak little friends? Or placing your fate in the hands of spirits that have long since outlived their time in Nippon?"_

"No…no…" Alex mumbled in his sleep, twisting about more violently as his head thrashed back and forth.

"_Do you think you can escape my power? The very same power that brought a clan of demonslayers to their knees and made an entire civilization bow their heads to me in submission?"_

A sinister laugh echoed in his subconscious…and Alex suddenly found himself standing in darkness.

All-encroaching darkness, that seemed to engulf everything around him, to pull at him from all angles as it began to drag him away.

Just like his recurring dream…before this all started.

"_Fool…there is no escape from the Lord of Demons. You may think you are safe from me, beyond my reach, but I still possess the means to torment your very soul until the end of time!"_

Alex, feeling a chilling fear welling up inside him, struggled violently to break free from the shadows dragging him into the darkness…but Orochi's power was too strong for him to resist, too much for him to handle, even in nightmare form.

"_You will NEVER be rid of me, Sword-Wielder! Not so long as I draw breath! You are nothing but a fly caught in my web, and I will rend your soul until your very BEING cries out in agony!"_

Right as the demon spoke those words, there was a brilliant flash of light, followed by a furious snarl that seemed to suddenly retreat into the distance…far, far away, where it couldn't hurt him.

Where it couldn't touch him…but could still watch, with hissing, barely-contained fury.

The light, having appeared above him, slowly drifted downwards…but instead of it floating right above him, like it had in his recurring dream he had last had in what seemed like so very long ago, the light came right up right in front him and a single hand reached out, powerfully grabbing him by the arm before he could react and yanking him through.

In an instant, Alex once again found himself in Amunae's Domain…but the young man was far from ready enough to acknowledge that fact, as made apparent by the fear-induced shivering that had struck his body.

Amunae, in his human form once more, firmly grasped him by both shoulders and spoke, "Easy. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Find your center and recover your inner balance."

It took Alex a second, but after a hard swallow and a shaky nod, he followed the kitsune's advice and felt himself calming down a bit as the shivering slowly came to a stop.

"There. Feeling better?"

"Yeah…yeah, I think so..."

Amunae nodded and released his grip on Alex's arms. "Good. Not many escape the influence of a demon easily, even if such influence is simply a nightmare. Fortunately, I was near your consciousness when it happened, so I was able to shield you from it with my own power."

"…A nightmare…" Alex whispered, still sounding a bit unsteady. "And…you protected me from it?"

"As best I could…but this still worries me," the fox muttered, rubbing a hand contemplatively against the bottom of his fox mask's muzzle as he paced a few steps away. "Considering the recent lengths that Orochi is going to in order to torment you, I fear the demon has cast his gaze upon you…with the intent to kill."

"But…why? Why is he doing this? Why does he want me dead?!" Alex demanded to know, his raised voice only beginning to allude to the amount of stress the demon was beginning to put on his sanity.

"If I had to wager a guess, I would imagine that the combined history of both Aku-Hametsu and I has something to do with it, especially considering my involvement with the Takeda Clan," Amunae explained. "Seeing as how _you_ are the blade's chosen wielder now, I assume Orochi wants you dead because of either the threat you present, or…much more likely…he holds a grudge towards me that unfortunately seems to have shifted to you as well."

"So I've just been sucked into a grudge match between a senile nine-tailed fox spirit and a bloodthirsty demon god that was SOMEHOW returned from the dead?! Oh, PERFECT!" Alex snapped, regaining some of his original mood back…at least, the usual mood he had when dealing with Amunae.

"Sadly, so it seems," the kitsune muttered, bowing his head slightly as he contemplated things. "…I am truly sorry for this, Alexander…but even you must admit that this was not entirely unforeseen."

Alex found himself surprised that Amunae was actually giving him an all-too-rare apology, but decided not to call the fox out on it, choosing instead to shrug helplessly and ask, "…So what now? We can't just let Orochi keep doing this to me, can we?"

"Of course not," the fox instantly replied, his contemplative look replaced with one of resolve. "I for one will not allow a soul in need to go wanting. I believe it is time for your _real_ training to begin…the very training that will allow you to stand up to the ever-growing threat of both the Black Hand, and the demons they fight alongside."

Amunae paused for a moment, and took a look around the grassy plain as though he were surveying the land.

"…But it shall not be here," he finally spoke again. "Come…I do believe a more _appropriate_ setting is in order for what I am about to teach you."

Beckoning for Alex to follow, Amunae shifted into his fox form with only a smooth ripple of the air around him to mark the transformation and slowly padded off into the distance. Wondering what else the fox possibly had in store for him, Alex nonetheless had little choice but to follow, to see where he was being led.

They walked in silence for a while, neither one speaking as Alex stared at Amunae, and Amunae stared at the horizon, his masked face betraying none of the thoughts on his mind.

I wasn't much longer before Alex finally noticed it…a subtle, but steadily occurring shift in the landscape.

What started as rolling hills of a grassy green plain and a brilliant blue sky was now slowly changing around them the further they walked…the grass began to recede and give way to a kind of sandy dirt, the blue sky began to turn more of a light yellow-orange color, and the temperature rose considerably as the wind began to carry dust and loose bits of sand with it, scattering it across the barren ground that now stretched off into the distance before them.

It was some kind of near-desert wasteland, like a salt flat…not entirely devoid of life, but barren and flat enough that Alex could see incredibly far into the distance, to the dust-shrouded mountains that lay upon the horizon, refusing to draw closer no matter how long they kept walking. The change had been gradual, but extreme at the same time: a full landscape shift, from one biome to another entirely.

"…Amunae?" Alex eventually spoke up, as they kept walking further into the barren lands, the green fields having disappeared entirely behind them. "Where are we going?"

"To a place where I lead all Sword-Wielders eventually…" the fox spoke reverently. "A place where you will see the true fruits of the labor you have already performed, and of the labor to come…_The Vault of Souls."_

"Vault of Souls…?" I don't know if I like the sound of that…" Alex muttered in reply, to which Amunae simply remained silent and continued leading him on.

Eventually, through the hot, dust-choked clouds of dust kicked up by the barren wind, Alex saw something that they were approaching…something that made him stop and stare in awe as the clouds finally cleared and allowed him to see it straight on.

"_Holy…shit…"_ he breathed.

It was _massive…_there were _thousands_ of them, embedded into the dirt and stretching into the distance as far as he could see, and even _further_ he was certain.

Swords, both curved and straight. Glaives the size of a full-grown man. Rosaries that glowed with mystical power upon their display stands. Warhammers big and heavy enough that they could crush a demon in a single blow. Scythes that could cleave an opponent down the middle…and dozens more different types of weapons, mainly Japanese in nature, all arrayed in a massive field of crafted wood and steel. But there were more than just weapons here: Alex could also spot suits of armor, standing silently as sentinels over the weapons that surrounded them, some bearing cloaks that lightly flared and fluttered in the wind that swept over the barren landscape.

"Whoa…Amunae? What…what's with all this?" Alex asked in a broken, awe-struck whisper, turning his gaze every which way as the kitsune led him through the large central path that cut straight through the massive display.

"This, young one, is the result of having _far_ too much spare time on my hands," Amunae remarked, showing nowhere near the level of awe that was affecting Alexander at the time. "What you see here is all crafted by my own two hands."

"_What?!_ You _made_ all these?!" Alex exclaimed, astounded by just _how much_ there was. Even now, after having been walking for several minutes through the massive field of blacksmithing prowess, Alex _still_ hadn't seen anything that looked like an end to it all. There were literally thousands of items here, all weapons that looked to be in fighting order despite having had to have been made hundreds of years ago.

The kitsune nodded. "As I said, I have a _lot_ of free time…and though I am just a spirit now, I still feel a desire to continue my work. What you see here is the resting place of nearly five centuries of work…the souls of weapons and armor that have never seen the light of day, that have never had the chance to exist in the living realm."

Confused by Amunae's choice of words, Alex asked, "What do you mean _souls_? These aren't alive. They're just inanimate objects."

"To the untrained eye, perhaps…but allow me to ask you something, young one," Amunae replied, stopping next to one of the glaives near the side of the path and wrapping a long silver tail around it, gently tugging it out of the ground in order to hold it in front of him and examine it. "Have you ever pondered just _how_ the equipment that emerges from the ashes of greater demons you have slain came to be?"

"Well…not really, no," Alex admitted, looking down at some of the weapons near his side of the path and admiring their marvelous craftsmanship. "I…uh…kinda didn't question it too much."

"Then walk with me. I shall explain."

As they resumed their walk, Amunae spoke to Alex with an almost reverent, deliberate tone of voice…the voice of a teacher imparting wisdom to a student just beginning to learn some form of sacred art or knowledge. Alex, in the meantime, could only listen in silence, taking it in as they continued further into the massive field of armor and weapons.

"These weapons and armors that you see here before you…they are not actual, physical items that you can hold in the hands of your living body," Amunae explained. "They are merely _souls_ right now, spiritual representations of the weapons they could be in the living realm. Do you remember what I said to you about Aku-Hametsu, how only spirits dwell here within the sword?"

Alex nodded in response, to which the kitsune continued. "The situation of my various creations are similar to what you and I are experiencing at this moment. However, they are different because they were _created_ here, in the spirit realm. They do not _live_, for they do not possess the life force of a living thing normally born or created in the realm that your body exists."

"Ok, wait, hang on a second!" Alex spoke up, coming to a stop. "Let me get this straight…you're telling me that all of these things don't exist because they aren't _alive?_ That doesn't make any sense!"

"Everything has a soul, Alexander…" Amunae spoke reverently. "Even things that you would not consider alive. The clothes you wear, the buildings you dwell within…all of it exists through a combination of a soul and a force of life…naturally, _ki."_

"So you're saying that even inanimate objects need ki to 'exist'?"

"Now you are beginning to understand," Amunae replied, nodding. "And that is how the equipment you received – the Spidersilk Cloak and the Fox-Fire Beads – came into being: each greater demons you slay still contains a few small dregs of life force within their bodies. When Aku-Hametsu absorbs the demon's soul, it allows me to take control of these last few shreds of ki energy…not enough to support a living body, but more than enough to give 'life' to one of the many items that you see around you."

Alex nodded slightly at first, then more vigorously as he began to understand what the fox was getting at. "So, killing greater demons allows you to 'spawn' one of these things here into the living realm, by taking the last few bits of ki and basically smashing it together with one of the 'souls' of these weapons?"

"In layman's terms, yes, that is it exactly," Amunae said, sounding very pleased that Alex had deduced it so quickly. "Think of such things as _gifts_ from me…gifts that will only grow in number as you slay more greater demons on the path to purifying Nippon of evil."

"Whoa now, come on…" Alex spoke, holding a hand out in front of him. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, because I never actually agreed to _purifying_ Nippon!"

There was a long pause, in which Amunae stared at him dead in the eyes without betraying a hint of emotion on his masked face, before he finally spoke, "…Yes, I suppose you are right…I imagine you wish to know a little more before I go and begin assuming things on your behalf."

"Well, hey…it's not that I'm entirely _against_ the idea, it's just…well…I've got other things on my plate besides this whole demon threat thing, you know," Alex added.

Another long silence, in which both parties seemed to ponder other things within the minor impasse that they seemed to have reached, before Amunae said, "Come…we have almost reached our destination. Purifying Nippon or not, I imagine your training will nonetheless benefit you in surviving long enough to reach your other goals as well."

Nodding in silent agreement, if for no other reason than to help break the slight tension that had sprung up, Alex followed Amunae the rest of the way, to where the setting finally seemed to vary.

The wide, clear path that they had been following through the field of weapons and armor now led them straight into a very large, wide open, and circular clearing that was roughly the size of a football field, seemingly situated in the exact center of the field of Amunae's creations.

It was here that Alex beheld another incredible sight…although this one was less awe inspiring and more fear inducing.

Two giant, leering statues lay within the massive clearing within the field of blades…life-sized statues of none other than the Spider Queen and Crimson Helm, their stone replicas so lifelike that it felt like they would come to life and smash him to bits in an instant. Both pedestals that they rested upon were heavily covered in what Alex realized were paper slips with various kanji symbols written upon them, pasted directly to the stone surface and remaining there despite the mild wind gusting across the barren land around them.

"Intimidating, is it not?" Amunae spoke, turning to face him and sitting down on his haunches in the center of the clearing. "…You can sense the power within them, I imagine?"

"I'm…feeling something…" Alex muttered, rather uncomfortable with the notion of drawing closer. "Is…is this what happens to the souls of the greater demons that Aku-Hametsu absorbs?"

"Yes…I place them here, for safekeeping, within this place…" Amunae spoke, gesturing not just at the clearing they were in, but the _entirety_ of the barren land around them.

"This, Alexander Grey, is the Vault of Souls…where all beings within Aku-Hametsu end up eventually…where I alone reign supreme, in this land of forsaken spirits."

* * *

><p>"<em>Such a beautiful night…"<em> Amaterasu mused to herself, as her white form slowly meandered through the trees of the forest that Kawa Village was located within. _"…a shame that everyone is asleep, and unable to enjoy it with me."_

The wind carried a certain chill to it…no doubt from the snowy peaks of the mountains that surrounded the small valley. But Amaterasu was no stranger to cold, as she looked up into the starry night sky, her breath misting slightly in the near-frigid air.

"_This reminds me of the time I spent in Kamui," _she reminisced. "_The freezing weather was so terrible there…but the nights were astonishingly beautiful. The night sky was so crisp and clear from the cold, and the auroras I beheld…magnificent."_

Thoughts of Kamui undoubtedly led to those of the people she had met during the leg of her journey that had led her there, and she smiled as thoughts of the hearty and strong Oina people mixed with those of the tiny, but equally resilient poncles…both civilizations where two of her best friends had originated from.

And now there were finally all together again…here, in a land that only kitsune inhabited. It filled her heart with a sense of adventure, to know that there was still so much of Nippon that she had not yet seen, and had yet to explore, so long as she had the time to do so…

…It also filled her heart with other feelings as well…some that she even had yet to identify, much to her chagrin.

"_Oki…that's just like him to attempt something like that, almost working himself to death in order to find me and Alex after the two of us disappeared into the depths of the Gale Shrine. Sometimes, I wonder if it should be _me_ worrying about _him_, rather than the other way around…"_

She stopped for a moment to scratch and itch behind her ear, listening to the soft chirp of nighttime crickets hiding within the dark crannies of the trees surrounding her.

"_And then there's Alex…who risked his life in a much more direct way to help me…"_

The thought made her lower her head in somber contemplation, as she remembered the tears she had shed upon seeing the young man lying in bed, having barely survived the injuries he had sustained over their time spent in the caves below the Gale Shrine.

The tears she had shed…and such foreign emotions as well…what did it all_ mean_?

"_I certainly _care_ for Alex…he is a friend – a _good_ friend – and I certainly wish to see him well…but even so, I have never felt so sad as to actually _cry_ before…"_

Thinking back to the more sorrowful moments in her lifetime, Amaterasu couldn't help but feel callous for not shedding tears when they certainly would have been appropriate…

…But while she had certainly felt sad during those times…she couldn't deny that what she had felt upon seeing Alex in such a state, after risking his life to defend her, could only be akin to _true _sorrow…something that would cause her to break down like that, when she was supposed to be a strong beacon of hope for those around her.

Her emotions had caused this…but again, she just couldn't place her finger on exactly _what_ emotions they were.

Anger? Certainly not. If anything, the only thing she was angry with was the one responsible for hurting Alex so badly…but she had already seen to that, as images of the underground building collapsing on Kurenai came to mind. Sorrow? She had already covered that in her mind. Happiness? While certainly glad to see that Alex was still alive, she highly doubted that the tears she had cried were tears of _joy._

…_Love?_

The word came to her suddenly, and perhaps even randomly…

But she instantly latched onto it, in her surprise over even _thinking _such a thing.

"_Could…could that possibly…be it?"_ she slowly thought to herself.

There was a long silence, only the crickets keeping her company out in the forest as she thought deeply on the matter, trying to consider every other possibility…but always coming back to that one word.

"_But…that would be…it couldn't possibly…"_

Doubt filled her…perhaps a defense quickly thrown up by her more snippy side, a self-righteous form of denial over something that was too crazy to even rationally _consider._

"_That…that couldn't possibly be! I may have been crying over him, but even _that_ couldn't even BEGIN to suggest that I…! I mean, we aren't even the same…!"_

Fed up with her mental sputtering, she shook her head with an angry growl that was perhaps directed at herself, or perhaps directed at the young man who was causing her such internal strife…but the thoughts remained ingrained into her mind, forcing her to continue thinking on them, forcing her to puzzle this out even if she didn't entirely _want _to.

"_This is insane, even for _you_, Amaterasu!"_ she berated herself. _"Even if what you are thinking is true, even IF what you are feeling can even be _remotely_ considered…THAT…then how can you possibly be sure if Alex even feels the same way?! For goodness sake, Amaterasu, you could have been putting him on the spot this entire time and never known it!"_

The sobering thought mad her anger disappear almost instantly, replaced with an aching feeling similar to that she could have prevented something terrible from happening.

"_That poor young man…that may just be why he was acting so strange around me down in the caves…some of the things I said to him must have made him SO uncomfortable."_

…_Alex! W-where are you going?_

_I'm…going to scout out the place!_

She still remembered that moment, when Alex had simply stormed off like that, undoubtedly from what she had said to him earlier at the time…he was extremely tense when he had left, a clear indicator that he didn't want to stick around to hear her friendly praise.

But even as the thought was concluding itself, there was yet another thought that came to mind in its place...something unlikely enough that she almost dared not to even consider it.

"_Is…is it possible that…he actually feels the same way…?"_

That was REAL madness. There was no way that such a possibility was true! That Alex, a _human_, could possibly feel the same way about her, the _Goddess of the Sun, _conveniently at the same time that she was beginning to notice what she was only _starting_ to, perhaps, feel for him?

It was crazy…so crazy that it could possibly even be_ true._

"_But…but I…" _she thought helplessly, feeling herself being tugged about by the still-strange, alien emotions running through her at that moment. _"It couldn't…"_

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it couldn't be anything BUT true…Alex had been honest enough with her the entire time she had known him – which was one of the many reasons she had stuck by him so closely – and she was entirely certain that Alex would have told her, straight to her face, that he wasn't comfortable with how she was putting him on the spot.

His recent discomfort around her…his storming off…could only mean that he was trying to keep a secret. That told her more than _anything else_ what could _possibly_ be going on.

"_But it would be wrong to make such an assumption on his behalf…this could all just be some flight of fancy I'm taking myself on, only thinking that what could never possibly be is actually true…"_

The answer to her conundrum came to her as quickly as the word that had started it in the first place.

_Find out for sure._

"_But…that would mean…getting the answer out of him _directly_,"_ she realized. _"…What would such a question possibly do to our friendship?"_

"_You're absolutely right,"_ her brain told her. _"So don't ask him directly. As Issun would say, _weasel it out of him."

"_You mean…trick him into telling me something that could solve this conundrum? Figuring out how he feels?"_ she inquired.

"_How else would you go about such a thing?" _her mind replied simply.

…It certainly wouldn't _hurt_ to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Alex, she acquiesced. But even then, she would have to be _extremely_ careful with how she worded things. And she had to admit, tactfulness was not always one of her strong suits.

And even IF she managed to get an answer, what then? If Alex didn't return her budding feelings (much as she tried to deny their existence), then...well…she supposed she could just forget the whole thing and call it a bunch of silly nonsense…

…But what if he did? What if she found out that he genuinely liked her, in THAT kind of way?

What then?

"…_I cannot believe that I am doing this…I should be out slaying demons and ridding the world of darkness, not attempting to find out if a man likes me or not!" _she huffed irritably as she ran off in the direction of Yunalesca's hut, where the young man was sleeping. _"I am a GODDESS, not some young schoolgirl!"_

Following the trails that led through the dark forest, a plan was already formulating in her mind as to how she could lure the young man out, and into a seemingly innocent enough conversation. But such a thing would require expert timing…and perhaps some brush powers as well.

* * *

><p>"So, let me get this straight…every greater demon I kill, you seal away here, in this <em>Vault of Souls<em> place, and basically use _their_ power to fuel _Aku-Hametsu's_ power?" Alex inquired, already knowing mostly how the sword worked, but reiterating it just in case he missed something.

Amunae nodded silently in response, the giant kitsune now having settled down on the sandy dirt as small clouds of dust swirled about him, never seeming to touch his flawless fur coat.

"And these powers…things like that _Shin Sutoraiki: True Strike _power I first used…you're going to teach me how to use them, as well as how to fight better with a sword in general, how to fight with a bunch of these weapons here in your 'vault", AND how to better focus my ki for more efficient usage?"

Another simple nod.

"That…sounds like a lot," Alex muttered. "You sure you're willing to put up with all that? I mean, not to rag on myself and all, but…I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes…and all that sounds like it might take a while…"

"Oh, _please,_ Alexander…a length of time holds little meaning for a kitsune, especially myself, seeing as how I am not exactly aging in my current…_state,"_ Amunae replied. "Besides, I have trained many Sword Wielders before you, so I have had plenty of time to refine my technique. I _will_ teach you, and you _will _learn. The amount of time that will take is meaningless."

"Well, what about the other things we have to worry about?" Alex asked. "What about _Orochi?_ We'll have to take him on eventually, won't we? Why don't you just get me up to speed with Aku-Hametsu instead of teaching me all this other stuff too?"

Amunae remained surprisingly silent at that, and Alex wondered what could be up this time.

"Because…without the proper knowledge to protect yourself, Orochi would kill you in an instant," he finally said in a low voice. "The demon is an ancient entity, far older than both you and I, and the monster has only been gaining in power ever since the first foul breath filled his body. His strength is nearly unmatched, perhaps even equal to that of the Brush Gods, some of the most powerful beings in existence…and if you are unprepared when you face him, he will destroy you, completely and utterly, in both body and soul."

"…Oh," Alex muttered, looking down at the ground.

"You must understand, Alexander…I only wish to protect you from the horrors that Orochi is capable of conjuring, but given the current circumstances, that will require an extreme effort on both our parts. This training is something that _must_ happen, or you will not survive, and neither will Nippon."

"Yeah…sounds like you've really thought this through, as a matter of fact," Alex said. "Care to tell me why, or is this another touchy subject that I can't learn about until later?"

The fox took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, as if something heavy was coming off of his chest.

"Sit down, young one. This will take some time to explain," Amunae spoke, and interested to hear what the kitsune had to say, Alex silently complied.

And Amunae began to speak…

_As I have said, Orochi is a mighty foe, one that will test the limits of your endurance and the boundaries of your inner strength…but there IS a reason why I am willing to invest so much time and training into making sure you are ready, when you eventually face the demon in battle._

_You already know that the Takeda Clan fell to the demons during the first great invasion that led to Amatersu's story…but there is another part to that tale, something that many do not know…_

_This is the true story of how the Takeda Clan fell…the meaning that was hidden beneath the surface._

_Long ago, about one hundred years to be precise, when Takeda Raikoh led his clan in the long war against the demons and the Black Hand, he became smitten with a woman named Ayako, a worker in the fields that had caught his eye one day as his procession passed by._

_It was only a matter of time before they met face to face…and as more time passed, she too came to return his love, and the two were wed shortly after. It was a union of true love, for even I could see that the two of them were truly meant to be together. In time, she also came to bear him a single son…born in secret, as part of an ancient Takeda practice to protect any potential heirs to the position as Lord of the Clan, from both the Black Hand and the demons they served._

_It was because of this secrecy that, perhaps, the child was spared…for when the Black Hand assassins came to the Takeda's castle one night, they target Ayako instead of the child, and stole her away silently, to carry her through one of their cursed Demon Gates to the Land of Darkness beyond._

_When Raikoh awoke to find that she was gone, the man flew into an intense rage unlike anything I had seen before. I attempted to calm him as best I could, but there was no dissuading him. Raikoh immediately made plans to rescue his wife, diverting an enormous amount of men from all of the borders of each faction's land – the Takeda Clan's, the Mori Tribe's, and the Moon Tribe's lands – and combining them into a single massive army with one purpose: A direct assault upon the Land of Darkness._

_Using the Moon Tribe's warp gate, Raikoh led his army against the Black Hand, the two mighty forces clashing upon the hellish landscape of the demon's homeworld. It was there, in the midst of that mighty battle, that Raikoh met the leader of the Black Hand in battle, who challenged him to single combat._

_A long and bloody duel ensued, Raikoh continually growing more and more desperate to defeat his enemy and rush to rescue his wife…but in the end, the Lord of the Takeda proved victorious, removing the Black Hand leader's head from his shoulders and slaying him in an instant. With their leader dead, the Black Hand army fell into disarray, and freed from the worst of the fight, Raikoh took Aku-Hametsu in hand and rushed to where his love was being held…_

…_but it was too late. Ayako had already been sacrificed to none other than Orochi himself, the demon having consumed her in both body and soul._

_But that was not the only tragedy that struck the Lord of the Takeda that day…for even as Orochi fled the scene, mocking Raikoh and I all the while, the demon revealed the truth of the matter._

_It had all been but a simple distraction…Orochi had used the Black Hand to draw Raikoh's forces out, knowing that only the feelings of true love he had felt for Ayako could cause such a tactical leader to make such a blundering error...and having committed so much of the combined faction's forces into a single assault, Raikoh had left the boarders of Nippon and the Moon Tribe's domain almost completely exposed._

_There was almost nothing in Nippon that could slow the progress of the demons now…and knowing that, Orochi had mustered his demon army in secret, and unleashed his assault upon Nippon even as Raikoh was engaging the Black Hand within the Land of Darkness._

_With the truth now revealed, Raikoh rushed to pull his army back to Nippon in an effort to salvage the situation…but again, it was far too late. By the time Raikoh was even in a position to do anything, the demons had already crushed the Moon Tribe, and were in the process of decimating the Celestial Plain…the domain of the Brush Gods._

_Having destroyed both the Takeda Clan's advantage of superior technology, and the faith of Nippon in the Brush Gods, the demons swept across Nippon, destroying or enslaving all in their path…and Raikoh realized that there was no possible way that he could salvage what had been lost: Nippon would fall, as would his clan, and the entire realm would be consumed by darkness._

Amuane stopped, looking solemnly at Alex, who was still sitting there and listening quietly.

"The rest, I am certain you already know…the fall of Idaina-yosai, the Takeda Clan's secret stronghold beneath the Gale Shrine…and Orochi's eventual destruction of the Clan's final bastion, their castle on the boarder of what used to be the Mori Tribe's forest. All of it eventually fell to the demons, under the control of the Demon Lord…and so began the story of Nagi and Shiranui, and the Day of Darkness," he concluded.

"So…Nippon finally fell to the demons just because Raikoh was trying to rescue his wife?" Alex mused. "And he ended up falling for a trap that Orochi had set?"

"Indeed…and that brings me to the point of _why_ I am willing to train you in the way I have suggested," Amunae spoke, taking another deep breath.

"…The truth of the matter is…I _need_ you, Alexander Grey. You are the only one I have seen thus far with the potential of actually slaying Orochi, the Spirit of the True Warrior…and the demon _must_ die, to avenge the slain souls of my people within both the Mori Tribe, and my friends within the Takeda Clan. Orochi _must_ die, so that the innocent people of Nippon may live…and that those slain by him may finally find peace."

A long silence opened up between them, filled only slightly by the faintly howling wind of the barren land around them, and the occasional rustle of the weapons and armor shifting within it.

"…So…the whole reason you chose me, down in that cave…was because you need me to kill Orochi, in some kind of vendetta that you have against him…?" Alex whispered quietly, keeping his gaze pointed towards the ground.

Amunae remained silent, watching and waiting as he always did.

"…Ok. I'm in."

Amunae's head drew back in slight surprise over the simple answer, the fox saying, "You…you are?"

"Yep," came the simple reply.

"Well…that is good…but, to be honest, I expected a little more resistance on your part," Amunae said, to which Alex shrugged and stood up, kicking at a loose pile of dust at his feet.

"Well, think about it. Ammy faced down the Spider Queen and Crimson Helm in that order, just like I did. If that pattern keeps going the way it is, then, well…I figured we'd have to fight Orochi sooner or later…" he reasoned. "If I'm avenging a bunch of dead guys who didn't deserve it in the process, then…two birds, one stone, am I right?"

"…Yes, I suppose so…" Amunae spoke, sounding a little put off, but still maintaining most of his composure as he ruffled his many tails and quietly added, "…Thank you, Alexander…you have no idea how much your acceptance means to me."

"Hey, save your thanks until _after_ we kill that freak of nature," Alex said, holding his hand out in a stop motion. "If it means stopping these nightmares of mine, then fine by me."

Amunae nodded. "Then let us begin…your _real_ training awaits."

* * *

><p>"<em>There he is, sleeping like a baby…" <em>Amaterasu thought to herself, watching the sleeping Alex through the opening to Yunalesca's hut. She had already formulated plan to get him out of there, but once she did, she knew she would be in the thick of it and would have to follow it through to the end…

So be it. She _had_ to know for sure, or she would drive herself up the wall thinking about it.

"_Well, as Issun would say, leap before you think…"_ she thought to herself, bringing her tail up and swishing some ink through the air…drawing a line directly from the water-filled bucket next to Yuna's worktable to Alex's face.

* * *

><p>Extending one of his long, silvery tails, Amunae gently waved it about over a small patch of ground in front of him…and right before Alex's eyes, what could only have been an exact replica of Aku-Hametsu suddenly appeared. Wrapping the tail around its hilt, the kitsune picked it up and held it in front of his face, examining it for a moment before nodding.<p>

"This should suffice for the time being," Amunae explained.

"But…it's just an illusion of yours…right?" Alex slowly asked, to which the kitsune responded by tossing the weapon to him.

"Take it in your hands, Alexander…you will find that its weight and length are quite accurate to the real blade."

Wrapping both hands around the hilt, Alex could indeed confirm that it was effectively an exact replica of the sword that their souls were currently within, right down to the two glowing blue demon symbols set right above the hilt.

"Now, take your battle stance and follow my directions."

Alex complied, taking the same stance that Oki had taught him with the blade held up by the side of his face, parallel to the ground.

"Close your eyes…and listen to the world around you," Amunae spoke, and Alex did so, hearing nothing but the faint howl of wind and the pawsteps of Amunae slowly moving around him.

He could sense the kitsune's muzzle right next to his ear, as the fox spoke, "Let go of your feelings and emotions, for they will serve you no purpose in the battles to come. Allow your instincts to surface within you…allow them to guide you."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Alex did his best to focus…

And suddenly, a stream of ice cold water smacked into his face, making him cough and sputter and shield himself as best he could as he sat up in his hammock and wondered just what in the hell happened.

"The HELL…!?" he belted out, looking around at what could have possibly caused such an occurrence, and earned himself a harsh _"Shhhhhh!"_ from Issun, now awake and looking very irritable from the young man waking him up.

"Crap…sorry!" Alex muttered apologetically, leaning over to look outside for what might have caused it…and catching a brief glimpse of white fur weaving away through the trees.

"…_Ammy?"_ he wondered.

"_Alexander, where are you going?!" _Amunae's voice snapped at him from within his mind, as he pulled himself out of the hammock. _"You are supposed to be training right now!"_

"_Hey, just…give me a minute, ok?!" _Alex snapped back, throwing an angry glance at the sword. _"I need to find out something!"_

"_Get back here this instant! I swear, if you do not turn around by the count of three, I will…!"_

Alex tuned the angry kitsune out and instead carefully stepped over Wolf-Oki, wrapping his thickly padded kimono around him as the chill from outside began to prick at his skin.

"_What's Ammy doing out here at this time of night…?" _Alex wondered, checking to make sure he at least still had the Fox-Fire Beads in armband form around his wrist before going outside.

"And where do you think _you're_ going, hmm?" a smooth voice said from his right, and Alex glanced around to see a familiar face staring at him…one that he was sure wasn't even there a second ago.

"Oh…hey, Ren," he said, relaxing at the sight of fox-faced man, still wearing the assassin outfit from down in the caves and apparently smoking a long pipe that he had produced seemingly from nowhere, the utensil poking out from his muzzle at an angle.

"I didn't know you smoked…" Alex observed, crinkling his face a bit at the smell of whatever leaf the kitsune was smoking.

"Ho ho…I don't usually," Ren chuckled, pulling the utensil out and casually balancing it between two fingers. "Just taking a mild break…making a few rounds before heading back to bed…making sure you're alright and all…" the fox replied, taking a small draw and causing a few lingering smoke trails to weave their way out from between his canine teeth. "…You _are_ alright, of course?"

"Uh, well…yeah, I guess," Alex muttered, feeling a bit curious as to why Ren was checking on him all the sudden this late at night. "Um…thanks for asking."

"...I also couldn't help but notice that little trick of Amaterasu's just now," the fox added, smirking slightly as though mildly amused by it. "Rather mild, by kitsune standards…but I've seen worse."

"What? You mean the water splashing in my face? That was her?"

"Indeed…it seems she has something to tell you, I would imagine," Ren spoke simply, refusing to say more in typical kitsune fashion, as he stuck the pipe back into his muzzle. "But finding out what exactly is a task best left to you, perhaps…"

"Well, uh…thanks. I guess," Alex muttered, watching as the fox nodded and walked past him without another word.

"Oh, by the way!" Ren called from over his shoulder, turning and pulling something out from the pouch at his side. "I think you dropped this earlier!"

Alex caught the object as it was tossed to him, and looking down at it, his eyes widened in surprise as he realized what it was.

"The Spirit Globe…? I thought I lost it down in the caves! How did you-?"

But Ren was already gone, having disappeared into thin air without even leaving a smoke trail .

"_Gah. Damn kitsune, always messing with me…"_ Alex thought to himself, shaking his head and slipping the clear glass orb into his kimono. Officially deciding that he had nothing better to do besides going back to bed, Alex went in the general direction that he had seen Ammy go, the young man continuing to catch glimpses of her ink-tipped tail weaving in and out of the trees, seeming to lead him on somewhere as the slope of the ground steadily went upwards, making him put more effort into his walk as he continued to follow her.

Seeing bright moonlight filtering through the trees as he reached the edge of some kind of small clearing, Alex peeked out, and saw Ammy sitting on the ground, staring out over a small ledge that, while rather low in elevation, afforded her an amazing view of the moonlit forest below, and the glimmering river that cleanly sliced a path through all the trees.

(_Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou OST – Ito wa Kanashi_)

Wondering what all this was about, Alex emerged from the trees without a word and slowly moved up next to her, noticing her look over slightly at him to acknowledge his presence and smile. Giving her a quick smile in return and sitting down against a nearby rock, Alex and her watched the landscape for a while, not speaking as they took in the natural beauty of it all.

"…_Beautiful night out tonight, isn't it?"_ she finally spoke.

"Yeah…sure is," he replied, leaning back to looks at the hundreds of glittering stars in the sky. "After living in the city for so long, I've almost forgotten what a starry night sky looked like."

Ammy glanced at him after he spoke, and asked,_ "What do you mean?"_

"I mean, there are too many lights on all the time. I know people need to see and all, but still, it's a little counterintuitive when you want to go stargazing, you know what I mean? All that light and you _still_ can't see shit sometimes."

"_I see…" _Ammy replied, looking back to the view in front of them. _"…I honestly couldn't imagine what it must be like, not being able to see the stars all the time."_

"Meh…you get used to it after a while. Although, there WAS this one time…" Alex said, sitting back up and looking over at her. "There was a giant power outage for the entire grid my apartment was located in…some screw up with maintenance or something…anyways, with all the lights in the general vicinity having gone out, I actually got my first good look at the night sky in a long time."

"_What was it like?"_

"…It was nice…" he spoke quietly, looking down at his hands. "…even though I didn't really have anyone to see it with at the time, it was still pretty nice."

Amaterasu saw her chance woven into Alex's most recent words, and with an inward sigh, decided that now was as good as any time.

"…_Alex…is there someone special in your life?"_ she asked, looking over at him at the same time he turned his gaze back up to her.

"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked in turn.

"_I mean, is there someone you are particularly close to? Someone that you've grown fond of, before you came here to Nippon?"_ she elaborated, making Alex twist his lips in a sort of tense fashion as he considered the innocent enough question and looked down at his hands again.

"…Well..." he began slowly, "…there was this ONE girl…"

Outside of his field of view, Amaterasu suddenly flinched, which surprised her, because she was not aware that the information would affect her so heavily…but even so, she didn't miss Alex's choice of words.

"_Wait…there WAS a girl?"_ she asked tentatively, unsure of whether it was a touchy subject or not.

"…Yeah, you heard right," Alex muttered, pulling up a blade of grass and rolling it between his fingers, before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I was in high school when I met her…we were in the same class, and we got assigned as partners for a school project. That's how I first met her," he began to explain. "We got to talking, found out that we had a few things in common, and well…I guess she found me likeable enough, because next thing I know, she slips me her number right before the bell rings and tells me to call her."

Knowing next to nothing about how relationships progressed in Alex's world, Ammy could only nod her head and continue to listen, moving in a little closer to him so she could hear better.

"So I call her…we talked some more…and we end up going on date together. That one date ended up turning into two, then three, and so on and so forth until I guess you could say we were officially hooked up," he continued. "Time passed, and I really started liking her…not to mention I was feeling lucky as hell, since it was my first swing at the whole 'dating game' thing."

"_So…she was the first one you were sweet on, then?"_ Ammy asked, to which Alex nodded in confirmation.

"We were going steady, and it was like everything in my life had suddenly taken a turn for the better…I was waking up feeling great each morning, I was doing awesome in school, and I knew that it was all because I had met someone that I had come to genuinely like…maybe even love," Alex said, shrugging to himself. "Who knows? Given enough time, things could've gone even further than that."

Alex shook his head, and suddenly, the mood of the conversation seemed to grow a lot more somber, Ammy realized. The young man opened his mouth several times, looking like he wanted to say something, but was unable to do so.

"…Then she dumped me…" he finally said. "She left me, said she didn't want to see me anymore…"

"_What?!"_ Ammy exclaimed, perhaps a little more forcefully than she intended…but Alex didn't seem to mind, as he slumped back against the rock and idly played with the bit of grass he had. _"That's…that's horrible! Why would she do that?"_

"Because some rich foreign exchange student came to our school…and the moment word got out that he was actually rich – I mean REALLY rich – she left me for him."

Alex was silent a moment, as he shook his head and tossed the now-mangled blade of grass away.

"I know, because…I found her wrapped around his arm, the day after I got the message from her that she didn't want to see me anymore…" he whispered.

Ammy's muzzle was parted open in surprise, a faint scowl of pitying shock on her face as the truth of the matter came out, before she looked down with eyes closed.

"_Oh…Alex…" _she whispered, slowly coming over to him and gently laying her head down on his lap, looking up at him with sad amber eyes. _"I'm so sorry…I should never have asked…"_

"Nah…" Alex replied, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Don't apologize…you're not the first person I've told this to, believe me…and besides, I already took care of things."

"_How?"_

"Spent a day or two psyching myself up, then I walked right up to that snarky little bastard and slammed his thousand-dollar smile into the nearest steel bike rack."

Ammy looked up at him in shock, but there was only a vaguely satisfied smirk on Alex's face.

"Dude may have been rich, but he sure as hell couldn't take a hit without crying like a little girl," he continued. "Then of course, I get suspended for starting a fight, my mom shrieks at me until the roof of our house nearly caves in, and my dad…"

Alex paused for a moment, smirking again as he remembered something equally satisfying.

"…My dad just told me, 'You gotta do what you gotta do,' and left it at that. And that was pretty much the end of THAT little relationship."

Amaterasu honestly didn't know what to think after Alex finished speaking…but after hearing one of the young man's life stories, she honestly didn't even know if she should continue attempting to squeeze the truth of how Alex felt truly felt.

"_Well…it was her loss!"_ she heard herself speak suddenly, before she could catch herself.

Alex looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and then suddenly broke into a fit of giggles as if he had found the wolf goddess' words to be immensely amusing.

"_I-I'm serious!" _she exclaimed, now trying to defend her words. _"You're kind and caring, and…well…"_

She lost some steam, and Alex stopped laughing as he realized that she was trying to get something out.

"…_any woman would be lucky to have you…" _she quietly finished, looking away from him and laying her head back down on his lap.

Alex was quiet after that, and Amaterasu wondered if she had said too much.

"You know…you're the first person besides my mom to ever say that to me," he finally spoke, making her look back up at him, an extremely faint but still noticeable smile on his face.

"…Thanks, Ammy…I really appreciate that…even if it's not entirely true."

"_Nonsense. I meant every word of that…and as Goddess of the Sun, everything I speak is truth,"_ she replied, a lupine smile upon her own face.

Some more silence opened up between them…only this time, Ammy noticed that something was definitely on Alex's mind now.

"Ammy…there's…well…there's something I've been…kind of wanting to ask you…" he began, looking a bit nervous about his words.

"_He…he couldn't possibly be…asking the same question on MY mind…?" _she suddenly wondered to herself, the wolf staring up at him as she waited with baited breath.

"Do…do you…lo-"

"_What the heck?! What are you two doing up so early in the dang morning?!"_

(_Okami OST – Issun's Theme_)

The shout suddenly rang out, startling both of them violently and completely shattering the mood like a thin pane of glass as none other than Issun the Poncle hopped out of the nearby forest, his bright green glow pasting a lime green color over what had once been the moonlit clearing.

"Sheesh, you guys! You're gonna end up being all tired out if you don't get all your beauty rest! Especially you, Furball, those demons aren't gonna cut you some slack if you fall asleep in the middle of a fight! And what do you think you're doing, Tinhead, keeping her up like this instead of letting her take her ten naps a day?! I oughtta take that sword of yours and shove it up your-!"

_GLOMP!_

Issun's yelling was immediately silenced to a bearable muffle as Ammy promptly ate him, the poncle now screaming bloody murder as he fought to escape the prison of her ivory white teeth.

"_Um…what were you about to ask, Alex?"_

"…Nothing. Forget it," the young man said, now suddenly looking very red in the face as he turned tail and walked off back towards the hut without a single word.

Ammy watched him go, waiting until he was out of sight before spitting Issun out on the ground and promptly letting off an absolutely _furious _growl at him.

"Geez, Furball, what are you getting mad at ME for?! I should be the one getting mad, cause you-!"

_BAM!_

A loud squish rang through the clearing, as Amaterasu promptly squished the little bug man beneath her paw.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! Don't forget to also check my profile page for that new bit of funny fanart by The Great Mikey Weston!<strong>

**Rate, review, and I'll see you next time.  
><strong>


	42. The Warrior and the Fox, part 1

**IT'S FINALLY DOOOOOONNNEEEE!11!111! *shot dead*  
><strong>

**Yes, I'm finally back, everyone! After a month-long hiatus, I finally manage to shrug of the procrastination and annoying little distractions of daily life to finally write out this chapter, the first of another two-parter!**

**All I hope is that I at least still have SOME of my old readers still hanging about, as I'm sure that some of them have likely stopped checking a while ago. BUT! No matter. I'll still keep writing, as long as you guys still keep reading! After all, I did said I'd get this in, and through all the blood, sweat, and tears, I finally did!**

**So be sure to enjoy it!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 40: The Warrior and the Fox, Part 1<strong>

The Moon Cave…a place that had once belonged to one of the mightiest demons in existence. It had been here, in this hole, in the middle of the small lake within Shinshu Fields, that the fate of Nippon had been rewritten…a fate that had been wrested from the claws of Orochi, who had ruled the land with fear and power prior to his defeat at the hands of the one called Nagi, and his faithful companion Shiranui.

Even with the demon gone, however, a certain taint had lingered over the place…a taint that had been restored with Orochi's rebirth barely a year ago, and coupled with yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Nagi's descendent Susano, and the current Brush God of the Sun, Amaterasu.

Descending into the depths of this legendary piece of Nippon's history, Nobunaga was once again reminded of the taint in question…and the primary reason why people had likely steered clear of it in the months following Orochi's second defeat.

The place, quite literally, _STUNK._

Even with all of his adaption to the taint of demons, and the vile smell that usually came with it, the Lord of the Black Hand had to fight to keep his eyes from watering as he walked through the twisting caverns of the Moon Cave. The entire place reeked of demon feces and whatever vile concoction that the imps were cooking up for their master today.

Whether the two were connected or not, Nobunaga CERTAINLY didn't wish to know…and from the looks of it, neither did his normally stalwart and unwavering retinue of personal bodyguards, many of which couldn't help but make various sounds of quiet disgust, one of them even reaching underneath his skull-shaped faceplate to plug his nose as they descended deeper into the caves.

While such a break of composure among his ranks was punishable, Nobunaga had more important things to do than yell at his already skittish soldiers. There was a certain demon that he planned to have a chat with, and with that singular goal in mind, he pushed the horrible stink out of his mind and increased his pace, his group scattering a pack of imps carrying a large platter of some unpleasant "food" (if it could even be called that) and causing them to drop it with a frenzied chorus of frightened shrieks as they realized who they had nearly gotten in the way of.

They all feared him…as it should be.

A few minutes of trekking through twisting caverns and precarious platforms soon found the Lord of the Black Hand and his guards riding a slowly moving wooden platform upwards, the lone imp manning the crank huffing and puffing as he turned it as fast as he could…and going even faster when, at Nobunaga's gesture, one of the red samurai gave the imp a sharp kick to get things moving.

This was a place for demons. Nobunaga didn't want to be here any longer than he had to be, especially since the imps had apparently been too lazy to fix the gaping hole in the staircase that would have otherwise granted him direct access to Orochi's lair.

With a loud _thunk_, the elevator reached its uppermost position, the crank imp collapsing over the handle with a gasp and gulping precious air into its lungs as it heaved for breath. Slowly filing off of the platform, Nobunaga's group immediately made their way up the impressive spiraling pathway that would take them into the uppermost reaches of the Moon Cave where Orochi dwelled…

…Impressive, but a complete waste of space, Nobunaga was quick to observe. The amount of useful things that could otherwise have been done with so much empty space made him want to grind his teeth.

Just another small addition to his increasingly long list of recent annoyances.

Eventually getting to the top of the exceptionally long spiral pathway, Nobunaga and his now heavily panting retinue of bodyguards proceeded forward towards a large stone ledge, suspended on the edge of a huge drop...straight into what could only be Orochi's Main Chamber.

Another massive waste of space. The only things that took up space in the wide open cavern was decorated floor far below, save for the massive shrine in the center that nearly took up its entire width, and the illusion of the swirling storm of fire and smoke above them, casting an ominous air over the whole place.

His eyes lingering on the lattermost part of the cavern, Nobunaga could at least imagine the scent of brimstone, which would serve to dampen the horrendous smell that filled the entire cave.

"My lord?" one of his bodyguards muttered from his right, calling him back to the task at hand.

"Yes, yes, you are dismissed. This should not take long anyways…" the Lord of the Black Hand muttered, watching as the guards bowed their heads and slowly filed away back the way they had come.

Turning his gaze back to the wide open space before him, the twisted demonic grin of his helmet's faceplate hiding whatever emotion was on his face at the moment, Nobunaga reached behind himself and withdrew something from the depths of his billowing black cloak…

A clear glass sphere, filled with bright red fire, very similar to the one he had left behind at Kusa Village to occupy the awoken spirit of Aku-Hametsu while he had made his escape…only this one contained a very _different _symbol.

The symbol of a massive slab of earth…with eight long, serpentine heads protruding from it.

Reflecting on the events that had occurred in Kusa Village, Nobunaga distinctly remembered his aversion to running from a fight…but that had been before he realized that the cursed sword of the Takeda Clan could reawaken so soon. Never before in the Black Hand's recorded history had such an event occurred, at least not until the wielder was a full adult in age.

He was forced to admit, though, that such a sudden retreat had been fully necessary, in order for him to plan around the sudden occurrence. These were changing times, for both Nippon and the Land of Darkness…and such events, while certainly inconvenient, were bound to happen in one way or another.

Finally deciding that he couldn't put this off any longer, Nobunaga heaved a great sigh and held the orb out in front of him, both the red fire and glowing symbol within radiating light from in between the gauntleted fingers of his vice-like grip.

"Come forth, Orochi. We have business to discuss."

The orb pulsed once…and the cavern began to rumble. Far below, Nobunaga could see the shrine beginning to shift in its place, cracks spreading from it as something below the ground began to stir. Outside the cavern, the rumbling and shaking made his bodyguards begin to lose their balance, many of them grabbing for something to steady themselves as the shaking only intensified.

The dirt and stone beneath the shrine began to bulge upward, and with a sudden and tremendous blast of flying debris, the ground gave way and spiraled into the air, the shrine going right along with it as it was borne on the back of a massive slab of earth similar to the one depicted in Nobunaga's orb.

A loud cacophony of snake-like hissing filled the air, as the slab rose high enough to reveal long muscular appendages covered in scales. The eight long necks began to squirm sickeningly as they were revealed to the air, and with several more bursts of stone and dirt, pulled themselves out of the ground as chunks of earth fell from their pristine scales, glimmering as a bright golden glow filled the cave…a surprisingly inappropriate color for the monster that had finally been revealed.

Large as a mountain, with the heads of dragons and eyes of fire, malice, and hatred, the demon known as Orochi, the Scourge of Nippon, rose before the Lord of the Black Hand. Every single pair of eyes, hidden in the shadows beneath the glowing silver helmets that each bore a symbol of some worldly element, focused directly on the comparatively tiny being standing before them.

Any normal human would have cowered in fear, curled into a ball and begged for forgiveness…but Nobunaga simply reminded himself of the fortunate fact that he was, by far, NOT an ordinary human.

"_Well, well, well…" _a chorus of eight voices, speaking in unison with an underlying hiss, muttered within his mind. _"Look who finally decided to drag himself out from his little shogun. To what do I owe the…_pleasure, _of this rare visit from the Lord of the Black Hand himself?"_

Nobunaga responded by tightening his grip on the glass orb in his hand, and the fire within suddenly shrunk away from the edges of its prison…as did Orochi, who let out a loud hiss as his eight head shrunk in on themselves, the mighty mountain-sized demon actually _shying away_ from this being that was merely a fraction of his size.

"You will show me respect, demon, or I will dispose of you like I disposed of your brood," Nobunaga spoke with a tone of voice completely devoid of emotion.

Recovering, Orochi narrowed his eyes at the human, standing so defiantly against him.

"_You mean Crimson Helm? Surely you jest. I would hardly call that abomination my 'brood', even IF he rose from a pool of my own blood,"_ the demon eventually replied. _"I care nothing for that walking pile of bones…though using him to cover your escape after that botched affair of yours was an incredible waste."_

Unsurprised by the fact that Orochi knew about the backlash that had been Nobunaga's attempt to destroy Kusa Village while gaining information about the reborn Sword Wielder, the Lord of the Black Hand nonetheless forced the sudden flare of anger down as Orochi stared down at him smugly. The demon was walking a fine line by taunting him beneath a thin layer of respect, but it wasn't enough to push Nobunaga's hand…at least, not yet.

A curious look came over Orochi's savage features, and he brought his eight heads in for a closer look at Nobunaga, the heat radiating from the demon being strong enough to be felt by Nobunaga's bodyguards standing outside, already shaken up by the demon's summoning and unwilling to stay in the demon-infested cavern much longer.

"…_But enough of Crimson Helm. Why have you disturbed my slumber, Nobunaga?"_

"Information," came the simple reply.

"_Information?"_ the demon scoffed. _"That is all? If you wanted information, why not get your useless gaggle of spies to gather it for you, instead of disturbing-"_

Whatever else Orochi was about to say, it was suddenly cut off in another bout of surprised and pained hissing, as Nobunaga tightened his grip on the orb once more.

"Be silent, demon…I am not here to dilly-dally with useless banter. I am here for information that only _you_ can provide, and nothing more. None of your taunts, snarky mannerisms, or snide remarks. _Is that understood?"_ Nobunaga growled lowly, his patience for the Demon Lord's antics already beginning to wear thin.

"_Nnnnggghhhh…"_ Orochi snarled, giving Nobunaga a fearsome glare. _"Arrogant human!"_

"Choose your next words carefully, demon…" Nobunaga warned.

"_And why should I? You may hold my soul in your hand, but you possess NONE of my respect! What makes you think I, Orochi, the Lord of Demons, would answer YOUR questions?!"_ he hissed defiantly.

Silence opened up between them, save for the rumbling aura of power around Orochi's form, the demon's defiant glare met with an entirely unamused stare from Nobunaga.

After a moment of this, Nobunaga let out a long sigh, saying, "…I see there is no convincing you otherwise, then. Very well…", before raising his right hand and making a single gesture, motioning for someone behind him to come forward.

The idle banter that had been struck up among Nobunaga's bodyguards outside immediately went silent…so silent, that the soft patting of approaching footsteps could be heard, as a small, hooded being slowly emerged from the dark cavern behind the Lord of the Black Hand and stepped into the golden light.

All Orochi saw was a sinister, sharp-toothed smile from beneath the violet colored hood of the scantily-clad (and rather voluptuous) female figure…but it was a smile he recognized all too well.

"_What is SHE doing here?!" _the demon bellowed suddenly, the force of his shout causing the cavern to shake, although it did little to faze Nobunaga and the comparatively smaller person next to him.

"To ensure your cooperation…you wouldn't want her telling _HIM_ about your little insubordination, now, would you?" Nobunaga calmly stated, allowing himself a bit of smug pleasure in the horrified look that came over Orochi's eight dragon faces at the mentioning. "You of all people should know that she has _his_ ear at all times…"

"_You…you wouldn't dare…!"_ the demon half-gasped, half-growled, sounding unsure of whether he should be scared or angry.

The female giggled lightly, making the demon reactively hiss in response, as if offering a retort to her laugh.

"_DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME, YOU LITTLE- AUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH!"_ Orochi made to shout, before his bellowing screech cut off whatever else he was about to say.

Nobunaga loosened his grip on the orb once more, handing it off to the woman next to him without looking, as if he were disposing of a piece of trash.

"Now then…shall we begin?" he calmly remarked, folding his arms behind his back.

Orochi hissed again, this time sounding a bit more submissive.

"Tell me everything you know about Idaina-yosai, and what you discovered in its depths when your army destroyed it…" the Lord of the Black Hand calmly demanded.

* * *

><p>After his little moment with Ammy, Alex had made straight for Yuna's hut to go lie back down, his face burning red with embarrassment over Issun's horribly timed interruption. Now, he wanted to just lie down and go right back to sleep, hoping that some of the inevitable training Amunae had in store for him would take his mind off things. All he hoped was that the fox wasn't too angry with him for putting it off like he had when Ammy had first woken him up.<p>

"_Get over it Alex…so you got interrupted, what's the big deal?" _he thought to himself as he walked. _"I mean, come on, it's not like you were caught doing something REALLY embarrassing, right?"_

He stopped for a moment as he replayed the conversation between him and Ammy over in his head.

"_Jesus…"_ he thought, as if finally realizing something. _"I really almost asked her that question, didn't I? I almost asked Ammy if she…"_

Before completing that thought, Alex shook his head and resumed walking.

"_Dammit, Grey! You can't afford a slip-up like that! Ammy's not your girlfriend, and she'll likely NEVER be either! What've you been telling yourself this whole time? It wouldn't work! Why can't you remember that?!"_ he berated himself for what was probably the thousandth time since he had first arrived in Nippon. _"Oki's back in the picture now, which means you've gotta knock it the hell off and start playing it safe, or you're gonna have a REALLY pissed off wolf man to deal with! The LAST thing you want is for Oki, or ANYONE for that matter, to find out you've got a thing for Ammy!"_

Arriving back at the hut and quietly going inside, he saw Wolf-Oki still passed out on the floor, bandaged paws twitching as he "ran" through some form of dream.

"…This is all YOUR fault," he muttered only half-seriously, probably as a result of his lack of sleep. He planned to remedy this as soon as possible, however, as he carefully stepped over the wolf man and lay back down in the hammock that he'd been sleeping in.

"_Well?"_ Amunae's slightly irritable voice spoke in his mind, from the sword still propped up against the wall of the hut.

"…_Nothing. Now let's get back to business," _Alex replied, closing his eyes as he tried to go back to sleep.

"_Oh, no, by all means, spend all of your valuable training time chasing down flights of fancy!" _the kitsune spirit remarked sarcastically, which made Alex clench his teeth a bit in irritation, but quickly tempered it with a reminder that Amuane was likely justified with such a remark.

However, no sooner had his eyelids drifted down than he felt the sudden press of a hand over his mouth, and he opened them in shock, expecting some form of nighttime attacker.

What he saw instead were the bright, river blue orbs of what were unmistakably Yuna's eyes, looking at him from behind her lightly decorated mask as she slowly put a finger to the tip of her muzzle, signaling him to remain quiet as she removed her handpaw from his mouth. Her light blue kimono had been replaced with her more rugged hunting outfit, a leather vest and shorts that left most of her belly, arms, and legs exposed…the same outfit she had been wearing when she had saved him that fateful night.

"…Yuna?" he finally got around to whispering, propping himself up in the hammock. "What is it?"

She said nothing, merely smiling and stepping back, beckoning for him to follow as she silently stepped over Oki, out of the hut, and into the night.

"…_The heck? What's this all about?" _he wondered, as he swung his legs out of the hammock once again…before stopping and throwing a rather awkward glance at Aku-Hametsu in the process.

In his mind, he heard Amunae heave a great sigh and mutter, _"I suppose I cannot stop you this time, either…just go."_

"_Tomorrow night, I promise,"_ Alex replied meekly, moving to follow Yuna out the door as quickly as he could with his still-slung arm nestled within his thickly padded kimono.

(_Shiki OST – Day and Night_)

Going outside, he spotted a flash of her three grey-tipped tails as she vanished into the forest, leading him in the direction of the trail that led up towards the much larger hut that served as her chieftain father's dwelling.

"_Huh…déjà vu,"_ Alex thought to himself, realizing that this was basically the exact same method that Ammy had used to get him to follow her mere minutes ago, remaining just on the edge of his sight so that he'd be continually baited along in pursuit. Still, curious as to where Yuna was planning to lead him, and having no other choice but to follow, Alex set off at a slow jog, being careful not to exert his arm, which _felt_ alright thanks to Yuna's soba elixir treatment, but could still very well be in the middle of mending back together for all he knew.

Running through the forest in the middle of the night proved to be something of a calming experience, Alex felt after a short while. The soft rustle of trees in the light evening breeze, carrying a refreshing chill from the mountains surrounding the valley, blew through the forest. The trees swayed gently, accompanying the faint echo of the river far away in a naturalistic symphony of sorts…almost like the forest was _singing,_ in some odd way.

Then he caught a glimpse of her…her graceful, icy white shadow flitting in between the branches of the trees above. She leapt from the trees on one side of the path to the other without missing or stumbling in the slightest, her balance perfectly maintained as she stopped to sneak a quick glance back at him, to make sure he was still following.

Quickening his pace a bit, Alex moved to catch up, but again, she proved too quick for him. Barely shaking the limb she was on, she leapt to the next one ahead, weaving her way through the branches and maintaining more than enough speed to keep her lead on Alex...enough so that the young man doubted he could keep up with her unless he was going at a full sprint.

Further up the trail, she led him, only giving him the occasional glance of her icy white form as they went higher and higher up the side of the mountain. Alex did his best to keep up, only slowing in apprehension when they reached the indent in the mountain face where her father's hut was, fearful of what might happen if the chieftain in question were to look out and see them.

He heard a light giggle next to him, and looking around in surprise, saw Yuna standing right there, when he had been absolutely _sure _that she was ahead of him. Putting her clawed finger to the tip of her muzzle in another gesture of silence, she took him by his good hand and pulled him along, Alex unable to do much to resist her surprisingly strong grip and eventually deciding to go with it.

Leading him past Chieftain Keikai's hut, Yuna brought him to another opening in the trees, to what he realized was a much smaller trail off to the side of the building...something the he hadn't seen from the viewpoint from her own hut. Even now, standing right in front of it, Alex noticed that it was hidden by a great deal of brush and bramble…likely a deer trail of some sort, only followed rarely by more sentient beings.

Pulling him along some more, she led him up the trail that quickly became much steeper than the one they had just been following, the dirt ground beginning to give way to slightly rockier terrain as they climbed up onto higher parts of the mountain. Catching glimpses through the trees, Alex soon realized that they were going _above_ them as well, their continually rising elevation carrying them above and beyond the fertile ground that the forest was growing on.

"…Where are we going?" he dared to asked.

She wouldn't say. Her gaze remained fixed on the trail ahead.

Clearing the way through a few more pieces of bramble, Yuna helped him up the last few high steps, led him towards the top of the rocky formation they were climbing…

…and they emerged into the most fantastic nighttime view that Alex had ever seen in his nineteen years.

In that moment of dawning realization, Alex had to admit something…the view he had when speaking with Ammy had been good, but _this…_this view was absolutely _astonishing._ From the rocky ledge that they were standing upon, Alex could see the entire sprawl of the forest within the bowl-shaped valley, and _then some._ He could see every peak of every mountain that surround the hidden valley of the river kitsune, the lands that stretched off in to the distance _beyond_ the geological formations, and even the moonlight reflecting off of the thin layer of clouds forming around the peaks of said mountains.

It was like standing on top of the world, almost…and the chilly nighttime air, cool, pure, and causing his breath to mist in front of him, only contributed to that effect.

"_Wow…"_ he breathed. "This is just…_wow!"_

"Do you like it?" Yuna finally asked, smiling at his amazement.

"_Like it?_ Yuna, you just showed me what it feels like to stand on top of Mount Everest, save for the life threatening blizzards and below-zero temperatures! Of _course_ I like it!" he exclaimed, stepping forward near the edge to take in as much of the view as he could.

"Then I am very glad!" she answered cheerfully, even if she didn't fully understand what Alex was talking about, as she stepped forward and stood next to him. "I have not exactly had many people to share this view with…but I am happy that you like it, at least."

"How did you even know about this place?" Alex asked, managing to peel his attention off the view for long enough to ask the question.

"I found it, many, many years ago…" she began. "In my early second century of life, to be exact. I discovered it while I was out practicing hunting, and when Kawa Village was only half the size it is now."

"…I'm guessing that was a long time ago?"

Yuna nodded, looking out at the horizon herself even as Alex turned to look at her, his eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"I eventually showed it to my mother, and she and I soon made a habit of coming up here every few months or so, to watch the sun as it rose up just behind those mountains over there…" she spoke, directing his gaze to the mountains across the valley from them.

Alex nodded a bit, before realizing what she had just said.

"_Wait…her mother?" _he thought to himself. _"I haven't seen anyone like that since I got here! If her mother didn't come and see me like her dad Keikai did…then where is she?"_

"…The hunting grounds have spread out since then, but I still come up here every once in a long while to take in the sunrise," Yuna remained silent afterwards, as she stared out over the valley, and Alex could tell that she was reminiscing about other times in her life…although he could see something else there, too.

"So…where _is _your mom?" he asked as gently as his choice of wording allowed.

"…Not among us," she answered quietly, if with only a slight hesitation.

"Oh…" Alex muttered, now feeling a little sorry for her as the words sunk in. "…sorry to hear that."

"Why?" came the unexpected answer, to which Alex looked at her a bit quizzically as she did the same, only with the additional slight tilt of her head.

"Huh? Well…uh…you said…" Alex began, unsure of how to explain.

"Oh…OH," she suddenly spoke. "You thought she was…!"

The somberness was suddenly broken when Yuna broke out laughing, nearly doubling over where she stood from the sheer mirth that was escaping her at that moment as she clutched at her exposed midriff.

"Ha ha ha, eee hee hee hee!" she giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, no, Alex, she isn't dead, by ANY means! I was saying that she simply _isn't here!_ She left on a trip to explore Nippon a few years ago, and I have not seen her since! And I am also certain she is perfectly fine because she has done this _plenty_ of times before! That is ALL, I can assure you!"

"Well…you said…the way you put it…!" a rudely surprised Alex sputtered, before eventually just throwing up his hands and spitting out a loud "Forget it!" before sitting down in a huff and refusing to meet her gaze…although his relief at the small revelation was certainly palpable as well. Yuna's giggling eventually subsided after a few moments, and she sat down next to him with a friendly pat on his shoulder.

"I apologize, I should have explained it better," she said to him, a few lingering chuckles underlying her voice as Alex grumbled out an acceptance. "But as I was saying…I have been following this trail in the decades since then, even in my mother's absence. I must have walked this trail a hundred times and more in the last few years alone…and yet, even now, this view never fails to steal my breath away," she spoke.

"…Hey. That reminds me…" Alex finally started back up. "I'm, uh…sorta curious…how old _are_ you, exactly?"

"I shall be three hundred and thirty seven years old by the next month," she answered casually, as though such a high number was nothing special. "Still quite young by kitsune standards," she added with a wink and a smile, after noticing his raised eyebrow.

"Wow…and you're still around _my_ age in human years?" he surmised. "That's…well…uh…"

She giggled, saying, "Now, now, don't be shy. I am not sensitive about my own age. Rather, kitsune choose to respect old age, rather than hate it. I am fully aware that, Inari willing, I shall one day grow old, wise, and similar in looks to the withered old bark on some of the trees around here."

Alex tried to picture the rather beautiful young kitsune like that for a moment, and his chagrin over their little misunderstanding finally ended, the young man breaking into a fit of barely repressed snickering, earning himself a light smack on the shoulder and an amused grin from the healer kitsune.

There were worse ways to break the ice, he imagined.

They were silent for a good while after that, the two of them quietly watching the white orb that was the moon slowly drift down towards the horizon, as nighttime slowly drew to a close.

"Sun's gonna be rising soon…" Alex remarked quietly, his eyes fixed on the horizon as he suppressed a shiver and pulled the thick kimono more tightly around himself…not the easiest thing to do when one of his arms was in a sling.

His little comment might have been borne of relief, considering the sun's rays would warm him up...and apparently Yuna, with typical kitsune perceptiveness, didn't miss out on that little fact.

"Are you cold?" she asked, giving him another of her perfectly innocent looks.

Alex suddenly felt himself blush as his mind suddenly considered the possible ways the situation could turn out, and as a result, he didn't feel so cold anymore.

"Uh…well…no, no, I'm fine. I-It's just a little brisk out for me, that's all-"

He stopped when he suddenly felt the light press of warm fur against his neck and shoulders…and he barely suppressed his nervous gulp as he realized that Yuna had scooted closer to him and leaned against his side, draping her three tails around him like some kind of fur coat.

"Better?" she asked innocently, with a sweet little smile.

"_Oh…oh man…"_ Alex thought to himself, his blush having intensified dramatically. While it was true that he was indeed better now, he wasn't entirely sure that Yuna's warm fur was the sole thing warming him up. _"Suck it up, Grey, she's just being friendly…I think…"_

Clearing his throat, Alex said as steadily as he could, "…Yeah…uh…thanks."

"You're welcome," Yuna replied, and Alex took a deep breath as he tried his best to settle down…which wasn't helped along at ALL, when Yuna decided to rest her head on his shoulder.

"_Just a few more hours till sunrise…come on, Alex, you can do this!" _he muttered to himself.

* * *

><p>"<em>How on Nippon did you manage to find me…?"<em> was all she could ask.

After dealing with Issun (who was likely still peeling himself off the ground back where she had flattened him with her paw), Amaterasu had sought Alex out in what could be considered a half-brained attempt to try and get him to finish the sentence that the little poncle had interrupted…but after arriving at Yuna's hut, Alex was nowhere to be seen. This concerned her a bit…but it also told her that by going someplace other than where she thought she could find him, Alex likely wanted to be left alone.

As much as she didn't want to let the subject go, especially considering how close she had been to getting an answer to the questions that had been driving her crazy, the Goddess of the Sun also had to admit that things didn't go as well as they could have…so she decided to give Alex his space and instead check on Oki, the wolf still lying there asleep in the middle of the hut.

To have pushed himself so hard and so far…to bring his condition down to the level it had gone…the wolf man must have gone to extreme lengths in order to track her down. But _how_, exactly, was still a mystery.

It was then that she noticed Oki's pack in the corner, taken off of him by the kitsune when they had brought him into the village. Maybe it held the answer to her most recent question.

Padding over to it slowly, Amaterasu looked behind her to make sure Oki was still asleep, and nosed the flap open, digging into the pack as carefully as her wolf form allowed and sniffing around for anything interesting.

"_Food…food…camping equipment…more food…"_ she thought as she went through the contents, forcing herself to stay on track when the smell of the food began to make her salivate.

It wasn't long before she picked up a scent that stood out from the rest...something that smelled like old ink. Gently closing her jaws around the item in question, she worked it out of the pack as quietly as she could, laying it out on the floor and holding it open with a paw.

It was _her_, she realized…a colored ink portrait of her, painted by the incredibly skilled hand of a master artist.

It was an art style that she recognized immediately: Issun's.

"_I recognize this…this is one of the pamphlets that Issun used to spread the word about me, during my battle with…_him."

Memories of that horrendous battle resurfaced at this, of cold darkness, suffocating shadows, and the feeling of her powers being ripped from her form in the most painful of ways…it was enough to make her shudder, before she managed to force the memories back down.

"_Why would Oki have this in his pack? This painting is almost a year old…Oki must have carried it with him for all this time. I can only imagine that he must have kept this as a reminder of me…"_

Shaking her head and filing yet another question away for later, Amaterasu returned the slip of paper to Oki's pack as best she could and continued her search…this time, picking up the smell of old ink _and_ a much earthier smell along with it. The smell of something very aged reached her sensitive nose, something that must have been buried for a very long time.

Pulling it out, she realized that it was a scroll of sorts…a very old one, to be exact. Curious as to what could be written upon it, her curiosity eventually overwhelmed her and she nosed it open.

What she saw astounded her.

It was some kind of map, she realized…one that detailed a long winding passage through what appeared to be a cave with words and descriptions written at various intervals.

"_Wait a moment…this is…this must be the cave beneath the Gale Shrine!" _she realized. _"I remember Alex telling me about this when I awoke. And there's the river that we followed…and the secret passage that we took as well! But if this is really the same path that we took, then it must be leading to…"_

She rolled the scroll along further with some difficulty, but finally found herself staring at what could only have been a diagram of the massive underground city that she and Alex had eventually found themselves in.

"_Where in Nippon did Oki find this?" _she wondered. _"This has to be an exact map of that city! The river, the rows of houses, the shogun…all of it is here! And these words…Idaina-yosai? Is that the name of the city? And this quote…gleaming light of Heaven…fire's fury and moon's light…the Takeda?"_

"…Amaterasu?"

The quietly whispered voice reached her ears, and she twisted around…seeing Wolf-Oki finally awake with his head raised off the ground.

"_Oki!"_ she cried out, forgetting about the scroll and instead rushing over to give him a friendly nuzzle. _"You had me worried for a while…how are you feeling?"_

"…Well, fine now, I suppose…" he spoke after a moment, sounding a bit surprised by her gesture, but also sounding incredibly relived as well. Amaterasu had to remind herself that Oki _had _been searching for her this entire time, so he was likely as glad to see her alive and well as she was to see him finally awake. "I seem to have dozed off during my search for you…did I miss anything important? And what is this place?" he added, looking around the hut, as he moved to get to his feet before being promptly stopped by the white wolf.

"_Don't push yourself, for the love of my godly brethren!"_ she chastised him. _"From what I heard, you nearly killed yourself trying to find me! The last thing you need right now is to pass out again!"_

"…Nice to see you too…" Oki muttered in an amused sort of way, although he hardly seemed put off by her concern over him. Choosing instead to examine his bandaged paws, he continued resting as Amaterasu filled him in on what had occurred…including her and Alex's battle with the assassin down in the caves, and their escape from Idaina-yosai. She did, however, leave out the parts where Kurenai had wounded her to within an inch of her life, out of concern for Oki who would most likely overreact as he usually did. Once she was finished, Oki decided to do the same for his side of the story, telling her all and leaving none of the details out. Unlike her, he hid few details, if any, perhaps because he knew that Amaterasu was more level-headed than him and wouldn't go off on a tirade.

"_So, Yatsu knew of the city's existence the entire time? And he never told a soul?" _she asked, once Oki had finished.

The wolf man nodded, having switched back to his human form mostly so he could peel the bandages off his hands and feet, as they were unneeded in that form. "It took a while, but we managed to discover the scrolls he hid and the information written upon them…hence, the map you were reading when I awoke."

"_And that was how you found us…"_ she concluded. _"Well, you certainly haven't lost your tenaciousness over the past year, I will give you that. I think few men could have persevered as long as you did."_

"I know of one,"Oki remarked casually, fetching a parcel of food out of his pack and snacking on it to help regain his strength.

"_Who?"_

"Who else but Alexander?" the wolf man spoke, catching her by surprise, but appearing more concerned with filling his empty stomach for the moment. "Which reminds me…I have to thank him. To risk mortal injury like that, fighting an opponent far above his level, all to defend you…the man may not possess much confidence in himself, but he has a heart of gold and a soul of steel. And because of that, I feel that proper thanks are in order. Speaking of which, where is he?"

Amaterasu couldn't speak for a moment, considering the events that had occurred between her and Alex at that very night…a night that was drawing to a close, she quickly realized, as she glanced out the door.

"_Somewhere around here…I imagine we will find him soon enough. But for now, I think the time has come for me to have the sun rise now,"_ she spoke, partially to avoid going down a line of conversation that might expose some of her inner tension concerning the young man. _"Wait here…I shall be back in a moment."_

Before Oki had a chance to speak, Amaterasu was out the door, running back to the ledge where she and Alex had shared their small moment before Issun had interrupted.

"_Oki…how could I possibly tell you this in a way that wouldn't break your stout, unyielding heart?"_ she thought to herself.

She wasn't blind: ever since she had first met the wolf man in Kamui, she had noticed some of his little advances…even his more recent ones…but her quest had been more pressing at the time, and though she certainly would have liked to spend more time with Oki back then, things were different now.

That one thought stuck out in her mind, the moment it had formed: _Things were different now._

Different, as in…Alex.

"_How could I possibly tell you, Oki? How could I possibly tell you that I might…just MIGHT…have feelings for another man besides you? How would you react? Would you fly into a rage and demand satisfaction from Alex in some bull-headed attempt at somehow winning my hand? Or would you calmly accept it…and then go back home, never to see me again? To cease being my friend?"_

She growled angrily and shook her head, once again trying to dismiss the thoughts that were roiling about in her mind.

"_It does NOT have to come to that!" _she mentally yelled, trying to reaffirm her own faith in their relationship. _"I still don't even know if Alex returns my feelings yet!"_

Skidding to a stop on the ledge, Amaterasu took a deep breath and sat down, trying to slow her racing heartbeat as she looked up towards the slowly sinking moon.

The moon…

Amaterasu pondered the option that had suddenly sprung up in her mind…but at that point, she was willing to ask just about anyone with a lick of sense for advice on how to handle the dicey situation that she had gotten herself into. So, deciding to throw caution to the wind, she followed the moon's aura along the tracing line that it had left in its slow wake and quickly located the constellation of a certain rabbit.

Taking another deep breath, Amaterasu lifted her ink-covered tail and quickly placed the necessary dots to complete the summoning…with a sudden burst of light, the constellation lit up, and the nighttime forest disappeared, replaced with the image of the godly realm and a large rabbit carrying an equally large wooden mallet over its shoulder.

Yumigami yawned, speaking, "Amaterasu? What on earth could you possibly want from me at this hour? The night is waning and I grow tired, yet here you are still wide awake!"

Amaterasu was silent for a moment, which began to concern the Moon Goddess.

"…What is wrong?" the rabbit goddess asked, hopping closer a few steps. "You seem…upset about something."

"Yumi…you and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. Despite the polar difference of the elements we represent, we have been the best of friends…and as such, I need to ask you something."

The rabbit considered the white wolf for a moment, perhaps realizing that the wolf had summoned her for a more personal subject of discussion, and eventually nodded, speaking, "Very well. Ask your question."

"First, promise me that you will not tell the others of this," Ammy demanded.

"Amaterasu, you know that-"

"_Promise_ me," Amaterasu insisted, making the rabbit hesitate before slowly nodding again.

"Yumi…what do you know about relationships in the mortal realm?" the Sun Goddess asked, before she lost her nerve.

"What do I know? Well…not very much, I am afraid. Why do you wish to know?" Yumi asked.

"…There is this…_woman,_ you see, and…well…she seems to like this one man…" Amaterasu slowly said, choosing her words VERY carefully.

"I…see…I think…" Yumi replied, not sounding that way at all.

"But there is a dilemma…there is also another man, who has been her friend for a very long time…and her enjoys her company, to the point where they might even be considered to have fancied each other," Amaterasu continued, hoping that the rabbit would eventually start understanding.

Her hopes proved to be legitimate, as it would seem, for the look in Yumi's eyes told the wolf goddess that she was catching on.

"So, this woman…" Yumi began. "…She does not know which man to pursue…the one who has caught her gaze and set her heart aflutter…or the one who has unfailingly been at her side, only now in a position to catch her eye?"

"_Not the exact way I would have worded it, but close enough…"_ Amaterasu thought to herself, nodding to the rabbit anyways.

"Hmm…well it seems that this woman would be in quite the dilemma, then…" Yumi mused to herself, rubbing her chin with her free paw. "Is the woman forced to make a decision immediately, or does she have time to weigh her options?"

"That is partially what I wish to know myself…what is your opinion on it?" Amaterasu asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation of an answer.

"…I would imagine that, if there were no pressing needs at the time, then yes, she should _certainly_ consider the consequences of each choice. After all, she would be deciding whom to spend the rest of her life with."

"But what if there _was_ a pressing need? Like, for example…demons to slay?" Amaterasu spoke gingerly, knowing she was treading on very thin ground, even though she knew she could trust Yumigami.

"Well in THAT case, all I could say is that the demons would have to be dealt with before such a decision could be made!" Yumi exclaimed. "One does not simply decide whom to marry in the midst of a vicious battle!"

Amaterasu hanged her head a bit, having at least somewhat expected the answer…it was true, after all: as long as the returned demons continued to roam Nippon, she couldn't possibly decide on this sort of thing right now. As much as it would drive her up the wall to do so, she would have to keep this sort of thing bottled up inside her until the time came where she could let it out and examine it in depth.

"_That will be an extremely hard decision to make…"_ she realized glumly. _"Do I choose Alex, the young man who recently caught my gaze? Or do I forget about him and return to my history with Oki, the Oina man who has been at my side since I first came to Nippon?"_

Yumi, sensing the Sun Goddess' anguish, set her mallet down, hopped up to her, and lifted her head up with both paws.

"There, there…I imagine the choice will be clear enough to you once your duties as Goddess of the Sun are finished for the time being. Until then, keep your chin up, and for your own sake, keep them both alive and well!" the rabbit remarked in a friendly manner, confirming that she indeed had understood what Amaterasu was getting at.

Sighing, Amaterasu nodded and tried her best to smile, satisfying Yumigami as the rabbit picked her mallet back up.

"Now then…I would very much appreciate it if you allowed the moon to set and the sun to rise! Some of us do need sleep, after all!" the Goddess of the Moon spoke, vanishing in a cloud of sparkling light as the constellation above returned to normal.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any, Amaterasu raised her tail back up and drew in a near-perfect circle with a smooth and practiced motion that had been repeated dozens of times before.

* * *

><p>And with the sun rising up beyond its resting place behind the mountains, the valley was soon bathed in warms rays of light, the various inhabitants of the forest emerging from their homes and welcoming the new day as it arrived.<p>

High above, Alex and Yuna still sat upon the perch as they looked out over the valley, the magnificent sunrise painting it in a wonderful array of gold, yellow, and orange.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Yuna remarked cheerfully from his side, finally removing her tails from his neck and shoulders as she stood up and paced forward, stretching her arms high above her head as she welcomed the morning as well. "A brand new day, full of adventure and excitement!"

"Uh, yeah, if you say so," Alex spoke, prompting her to turn around and stare at him with her usual mischievous look.

"What? Do you not believe me?" she asked, making sound as though Alex had challenged her in a way.

The young man simply responded with a large yawn, covering his mouth as he slumped down where he was still sitting.

"I'm not exactly a morning person, if you can tell…especially when I have to get up _so freaking EARLY_ in the morning!" he finally belted out, sounding thoroughly exhausted from his lack of sleep over all of the times it had been interrupted.

"Come now, that's no way to talk!" she laughed, darting forward and pulling him to his feet before he could react. "Come on! There's still so much for me to show you! We had a date, after all!"

"_Oh lord, she's STILL calling it that?"_ Alex moaned inwardly, unable to do much in his tired state other than get dragged back down the trail by Yuna as she swept past him and took him by the good arm.

* * *

><p>A few miles away, there was also another person watching the sunrise…though this one watched it from the shadowed branches of a tall tree he was residing in.<p>

Clouds, morning mist, valley wind…and something else, as well.

Leaping down from the tree and hitting the ground far below with nary a _thump,_ even with all of his moderately heavy armor, Kurenai stood up tall and wrapped the Spidersilk Cloak around himself, the enchanted article of clothing still clinging to a few receding shadows that the sun hadn't yet driven away.

"Report," he growled below his breath, his assassin instincts causing him to lower his voice immediately in order to prevent giving away their position. At his voice, three of his assassins emerged from the brush, calm and collected as they usually were when on a mission.

"Nothing but birds and other animals," one said, to which the other silently nodded in confirmation that he too had found the same.

"And you?" Kurenai asked, turning to the third.

The assassin said nothing, only moving to reach behind him and pull out a single arrow.

A very exquisite arrow, unlike the ones the assassins carried…an arrow covered in demon blood.

"Pulled this from the back of an imp, slain just north of the river," he spoke. "I would have missed it, save for the stench of the flies."

Below his massive helm, Kurenai smiled.

They had found them.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it, once more! Be sure to rate, review, and check out my profile if you want, and I'll see you next time! Hopefully sooner, although I can't guarantee that. You're all probably aware by now of my horrible ability to keep my promised deadlines, but fear not! I'll still keep writing!<br>**


	43. The Warrior and the Fox, part 2

**Hey, everyone! I'm back once again!  
><strong>

**Alright, so you're all probably wondering where I went. Well, for those of you who didn't check out the notices on my dA page...in a nutshell, procrastination happened. Yeah. That's it.**

**And to be honest, I think a big part of it had to do with the fact that I've spent a little too long sending this story in circles with this slow part, so I decided to do something a little drastic and basically covered everything I wanted to cover in a single chapter...hence, the 16k word count. So as a precaution, I apologize if this chapter seems a little squished or rushed. I'm sorry, but I really want to get this story rolling again, and I think that's only going to happen once I get back to the action-y parts.**

**So keep that all in mind, and enjoy this super extra long chapter. Hopefully, you find it worth the wait. If not, well...the pelting rocks are over there.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 40: The Warrior and the Fox, part 2<strong>

Overlooking the large chasm within the moon cave, Nobunaga tapped his finger against his folded arms as he pondered what he had learned from Demon Lord Orochi, the metal making a systematic _tink-tink-tink_ sound that echoed slightly in the cavernous expanse.

"_So Orochi knew about the gate's existence all along…no doubt, he saw fit to report such information to his own master and no one else back then, when the demons still had the upper hand and my people were still clawing for the position we hold today…"_ he thought to himself, watching the wooden platform rise towards him with an air of disinterest. _"Such information would likely never descend past the higher reaches of the demon hierarchy…namely, the greater demons…but I still find it impressive that they managed to keep it a secret from my people for so long."_

His thoughts were interrupted by the light patting of footsteps behind him.

"Lord Nobunaga?" a smooth, yet venomous female voice spoke behind him. "The demon gate you requested is ready to take us back to the Land of Darkness."

The Lord of the Black Hand turned towards the petite feminine figure that he virtually towered over, but she did not flinch in the slightest. Not a single bit of fear showed on the part of her face that was visible beneath the dark violet hood and messy black bangs of hair.

"And Orochi?" he finally spoke.

"I imagine that we left a mark upon him that he will not soon forget," she answered, the corner of her ruby red lips turning up in a satisfied smirk. "His cooperation is assured, that much is certain."

Pondering her for a moment, as if trying to picture how such a small figure could whip up such fury in the mighty demon, Nobunaga reminded himself who he was keeping at his side and nodded, striding past without so much as a glance in her direction as she moved to follow behind him…her head slightly dipped in a silent but easily seen gesture that he still held absolute power over her.

Ninetails…that was what she was truly called, he reminisced as they walked…a cunning and savage servant of the demons, whose violent past had pushed her up through their ranks until she sat at the right hand side of _him._

She was one that no demon ever dared to cross…one that made them hush their voices when speaking anything unflattering, for fear that she was nearby to overhear them…for all knew that Ninetails, the dreaded right hand of Yami, had his ear at all times, and could bring about the silence of any she deemed a threat or liability alike.

…Except for those of the Black Hand, of course. Ninetails had power among the demons, but with the rise in the human clan's power in recent months, the demons had lost considerable influence. Now, even with Nobunaga's back turned to her, the Lord of the Black Hand knew that she wouldn't _dare_ to try and strike him down, despite the fact that she showed absolutely no fear in his presence.

She didn't fear him…but she respected his power, for she knew that he had absolute control over her now, like the master holding the leash of a dog.

"Master?" she spoke up suddenly, as they stepped upon the wooden platform and began riding down. "Are you certain that Orochi will be up to the task that you set him on?"

Nobunaga considered ignoring the question, but decided against it, figuring that he could use some sensible conversation after dealing with Orochi and his apparent anger management issues.

"Do you doubt his power, Kyuubi?" he countered, using her formal name normally reserved for their private conversations, in which she reported to him the happenings within the Land of Darkness that allowed him to keep a tab on things.

"I think you already know the answer to that, Master."

Nobunaga chuckled inwardly. It was no small secret that Orochi and Ninetails despised each other, and there had been a time when one was often seen attempting to one-up the other, or sabotage the other's progress. The recent shift in power within the Land of Darkness had immediately put an end to that, as Nobunaga had forced them into cooperation with each other (a momentous feat in of itself), but it still brought a smile to his lips when remembering the petty struggle between the two.

"Regardless of what you may think, I care not for the outcome of the task I set out before him," he replied. "Orochi is…_crude_ with his methods, but that will have little effect on how my plan turns out."

"You appear very sure of the outcome, Master," she muttered quietly, as though the volume of her voice would affect the intensity of his reaction.

"Think of it this way, my dear Kyuubi…" Nobunaga spoke pleasantly, as the platform hit bottom and the two of them stepped off it. "Whether Orochi succeeds or fails, I still win."

"And what of Kurenai, your closest associate?" Ninetails asked. "Must I remind you that he is still on the trail of the Sword Wielder, by your own command?"

…Yes, she certainly was fearless, he surmised. Few had the stones to pose such a question to him in such a tone, without possessing the proper level of his favor beforehand.

He could have easily reprimanded her for it, but even then, he doubted it would change her attitude towards him…not to mention the potential backlash it could cause for him among the demonic legions. Ninetails was not a demon by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew that she held enough influence to give him a severe headache down the line if he chose to raise his hand against her.

Already having had his fill of headaches for the day, Nobunaga simply grunted and quickened his pace as they neared the Moon Cave's exit.

"It would certainly make things a great deal easier if Kurenai were to succeed with his task…but again, whether he succeeds or not holds little meaning to me. All I am trying to do is swat an insect, not start a war for the sake of killing one young man who managed to get his hands on an ancient and – admittedly – deadly weapon. If Kurenai does not get rid of him, Orochi most certainly will…_in one way or another,"_ he spoke with deadly conviction in his voice.

"…Very well then, Master…" Ninetails eventually responded, sounding slightly unconvinced, but accepting the answer for what it was regardless.

Emerging into the outside world again, Nobunaga and Ninetails found themselves standing on the long winding path that cut almost straight through the lake, in front of the large stone demon gate that would take them back to the Land of Darkness, glowing with dark energy against the golden red glow of the rising sun in the background.

Pausing for a moment to take the last fresh breath of air he would have for a while, Nobunaga heard something akin to a mighty crack of thunder…but it did not cause him to flinch. Rather, he simply stared upwards, just in time to see something streak across the sky.

A pale white light, emanating from the very top of the Moon Cave and streaking across the ever-brightening orange of the early morning sky.

"…The board is set, and the pieces are in position…" he quietly said to no one in particular. "Now, all that remains is to wait for our enemies to make the first move."

* * *

><p>"When do you plan to tell him, Ren?"<p>

The male kitsune looked out across Kawa Village, having once been preoccupied with sunning himself, but now paying more attention to the words of his mate as she brought up something that he didn't exactly feel like hearing in his relaxed state.

"Tell him what, exactly?" he replied, lifting his head and staring at her as she sat there and stared right back, their children playing a short distance away with other kits from the River Kitsune tribe as several more adults looked on. "That we've essentially been stalking him since he first met us in the ruins of Takeda Castle? Or the exact specifics of the oath we took? Or perhaps even why we decided to help that rather strange human called Waka in the first place?"

"You know _exactly_ what I am speaking of, Ren…" she remarked, sounding a bit annoyed by the slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Or have you forgotten Aku-Hametsu's history already? The reason _why_ Amunae chose Alex _specifically?_"

"Miyu…we've discussed this already, remember? That sort of thing should be left to Amunae…_he_ chose Alex, so _he_ should be the one to explain it to him," he told her, stretching his front legs and rising up into a sitting position. "Besides, I'm not entirely certain Alex trusts us as much as he trusts Amunae, much as he would deny it. Amunae has a way of growing on certain people, especially those of Mister Grey's ilk. Therefore, there are none more suited to the task than our old friend. We, on the other hand, must stay true to the oath we made."

"Yes, well…Amunae may know how to explain these sorts of things better than us, but think about it Ren. What if Alex does not take the news so well? The young man seems entirely unaware of the information's existence, despite the visions he saw down in Idaina-Yosai…" she said. "You saw how he reacted, once he reached the shogun."

Amunae waved his tails dismissively. "Alex saw what he needed to see. If he cannot take the strain of such a revelation, then Amunae was wrong with his choice…but I doubt Alex is that frail in spirit. He possesses a certain…_vigor,_ something that makes him stronger than your average human."

Ren fell silent for a moment, looking across the way and just happening to notice the young man getting pulled along by Yuna, the young kitsune princess seemingly unaware of the tiredness in Alex's steps, no doubt from the poor young man's sleep getting constantly interrupted the previous night.

Smirking, Ren continued with, "If I were to assume something bold…I say he even reminds me of myself, when I was younger, in the prime of my youth."

Miyu subsequently whipped him across the tip of his muzzle with her freshly regrown seventh tail, a clear indicator that she was feeling better ever since she first lost the appendage to the assassin down in the underground city.

"Hey! Mommy's being mean to daddy!" the familiar cry of one of their children rang out, the young kit having spotted the two's antics at just the right time.

"Yes, Miyu, that was very rude," Ren said smugly. "Now what do we always tell the children? Say you're sorry."

The response he got was a cloud of dirt being swept into his face, coating his mask in a thick layer of dust.

"Sorry," Miyu simply replied, before striding off nonchalantly.

His children now rolling across the ground laughing, Ren held his smug look as long as he could before letting off a wheezing cough, dust poofing out from his open maw.

* * *

><p>"So…what are you trying to show me?" Alex asked, leaning over for a look as Yuna dug through a rather large chest, tossing various items out of her way and generally making a good mess of things in the room.<p>

"It's a secret!" she remarked.

"Well, yeah, I figured that much…but what is it, _exactly_?"

"If I told you, then it _wouldn't _be a secret, silly!"

"_Right, because that's totally not the most obvious chain of logic in the entire freaking world…"_ Alex thought sarcastically to himself, throwing his hands up in resignation.

As she continued digging through the chest, Alex took the moment to look around the rather spacious and interestingly built large hut that they were in…Chieftain Keikai's hut, to be specific. Alex had been extremely reluctant to go inside the place where Yuna's overprotective father resided, but after checking that the coast was clear several times at his insistence, Yuna finally managed to convince him to step inside the large hut, which surprisingly was far more complex on the inside than the outside had led him to believe.

In addition to sporting several rooms instead of just one (all of which were filled with rather interesting things that Alex supposed were normal fare in a kitsune chieftain's living quarters), the large hut also sported a _second floor_, built and supported with wooden planks and reachable with a tightly wound spiral staircase in the entrance room. It was to the second floor that Yuna had led him up to, and made him sit down on a nearby chair as she continued searching for the mystery item that she said she would show to him that day…during their "date" as she kept calling it, much to Alex's chagrin, the young man still kicking himself for the backfired joke.

Despite all of the various and somewhat interesting knick-knacks that were in the room with the chest she was digging through, Alex couldn't help but feel a tad bit drowsy over the lack of sleep from last night, and his eyelids began sliding down until-

"Found it!" Yuna suddenly declared, startling Alex awake again and making him tip dangerously backwards in his chair.

Before he could recover, Yuna had already turned around, caught him, and slipped something down over his face that only served to muffle his surprised outburst…at least, until he realized exactly _what _she had pulled over his face, when he yanked it off and got a good look at it.

It was…some kind of facemask, at a glance. Made of leather, he realized, as he took the slightly weighty piece in his hands and examined it. The next thing he noticed besides the material was the engraved design on its smoothed out surface…appearing to be a rather hideous (and purposeful) depiction of a kitsune's bared teeth, jaws, and tongue, done in much the same fashion as the oni masks that samurai wore. Clearly designed to fit over his mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed, its shape resembled the facemask of his old suit of armor as well, the key difference being that it was a great deal lighter in weight due to the difference of material.

Looking up from it, he also saw Yuna laying out what he realized were pieces of an entire _set_ of matching armor. All of it was clearly made of some form of hardened leather, save for certain sections that seemed to be reinforced with actual steel as well, expertly shaped to fit to the contours of its wearer's body.

"Armor? That's what you're showing me?" he finally said, once all the pieces were laid out.

She nodded, an eager smile on her masked face. "Considering that I effectively destroyed your old suit of armor, I thought it would be fair to repay you with a new set."

"Wait, you're just _giving_ this to me?!" he exclaimed, having learned far more about the value of expertly crafted armor since his time with Gizo in Kamiki Village. "You sure about that? I mean, I appreciate the thought, but-"

"But nothing!" she interrupted with her usual cheery tone of voice. "I insist you take it! It is the least I can do."

"Well, uh…" Alex muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he considered the armor on the floor in front of him. "…shouldn't we at least make sure it fits me first?"

"Excellent idea," she agreed. "Come now, stand up, I will help you put it on."

"Oh…er…really?" Alex suddenly stammered, realizing what she was implying. "Uh…well, I'm…er…not exactly…_comfortable_…with this sort of…thing…" he trailed off.

She stared at him for a moment, appearing slightly confused by his reaction, until realization dawned on her masked face and she set her hands on her slender hips with a huff.

"Alex…are you implying that you are _embarrassed_ by the notion of me seeing you in naught but your undergarments?" she spoke slowly, raising an eyebrow at him like he was crazy or something.

"Well, Yuna…!" Alex spoke exasperatedly. "Common courtesy dictates that you give a guy his _privacy_ during this sort of thing!"

"And how exactly do you plan on putting this armor on by yourself when there are clearly adjustments to be made, hmm?" she countered.

"I don't know! I'll just wing it!" he replied lamely, throwing his hands up in the air again.

"Oh for Heaven's sake! You humans and your modesty!" she snapped, sounding very displeased that Alex was being so stubborn. "Do you honestly think I care about what I'll see?!"

"You might! Don't deny it!" Alex argued, pointing his finger at her and appearing very strained.

"Well I _don't!"_

"And why's that?!"

Her displeased expression suddenly disappeared, replaced with an amused expression that seemed very out of place, given the circumstances.

"Because in the time you've been arguing with my illusory self, the _real _me has already taken the liberty of undressing you," she sneered in a triumphant manner.

Alex's expression became one of utter confusion, shortly before he looked down and the horrible truth dawned on him: he could have sworn that he had just been wearing his blue kimono a second ago, but true to Yuna's supposed declaration, he was now standing there, right in front of her, in nothing but his underwear.

* * *

><p>Far off in the distance, Amaterasu suddenly heard a loud (and rather girly sounding) shriek split the air, prompting Issun atop her head to suddenly leap to his feet in surprise.<p>

"What the heck?!" he yelled, bouncing up and down in his excitement. "What was THAT?"

"…_I don't know…"_ Amaterasu answered honestly, settling down as she resumed her nap in the sunbeam.

"Well, come on! Let's check it out!"

"_Not now, Issun, I'm sleeping."_

"Bah! Fine, I'll check it out myself," the poncle declared, hopping off of the wolf's head and in the direction the scream had come from.

* * *

><p>"What th-! How did you-!" Alex stammered, trying desperately to cover himself as Yuna bent over nearly double from laughing so hard.<p>

"I…already…told…you!" she managed to choke out between laughs, taking a moment in which she attempted to force herself to calm down enough to speak coherently. "A touch of illusion can do wonders, wouldn't you agree?"

"You…you did _another_ kitsune trick on me?!" he snapped accusingly at her, the young man having grabbed the pants section of the armor and wrapping it around his waist as some form of cover. "What the hell! What the _freaking_ hell!"

Giggling madly, she poked him on the nose with one of her claw-tipped fingers before he could react, saying, "And that is why you _never _argue with a kitsune! Now then, if you are so embarrassed that you can't possibly bear to remain unclothed like this, I suggest you start pulling that armor on!"

"_Why me?"_ Alex thought to himself for probably the hundredth time since coming to Nippon, the young man wanting to throw his hands in the air again but stopping when he realized he'd have to let go of his only covering. _"Why oh why does it always HAVE to be me?"_

* * *

><p>Heading up the ridge and spending a few moments checking around, which included listening in on a few of the tribe's inhabitants who also heard the shriek, Issun found himself standing in front of the Chieftain's hut and marveling at how much bigger it seemed on the inside after taking a peek inside the flap. Taking a few ginger steps inside, despite the fact that he could easily hide himself if someone came along, Issun nonetheless played it safe as he walked further in…and he suddenly heard the sounds of something.<p>

Shifting and heavy thumping. Sounded like a scuffle!

"_Uh oh! Better check it out!"_ Issun thought hurriedly to himself, kicking himself into Heroic Warrior Issun mode as he rapidly bounced up the steps towards the source of the sound.

"_OW! You're pinching me!"_ he heard someone suddenly shout, causing him to slow down as his brow knitted in confusion.

"Huh?" he whispered to himself. "That…that sounded like Tinhead!"

Bouncing up to the flap that he was sure the noises were coming from, Issun leaned closer and listened, almost afraid of what he might hear.

"Just hold still, this shouldn't – nnngh! – take too long!" a female voice answered, which he recognized as that one particular fox babe he met the other day, Yuna-what's-her-face.

"_Uh…what's going on?"_ he though suspiciously to himself.

"ACK! TIGHT! TOO TIGHT!" Tinhead suddenly yelled again.

"Well it wouldn't be so tight if you – errrrgh! – stop struggling! Now hold still while I thread this in!"

Issun's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates…at least, they would be, if he himself was human sized. Horrible (and somewhat disgusting) images of what might have been happening to poor Tinhead inside the room filled his mind, and without a second thought, he immediately burst through the door, yelling, "Alright! What the holy heck is going on in here?!"

Everyone in the room stood still for a moment, looking at each other with utter surprise on all of their faces. Alex, appearing half-dressed in some form of armor, was standing in front of a mirror and had frozen in mid-grapple with the belt around his waist. Yuna, standing behind him, had her footpaw planted firmly on his lower back as she seemed to be pulling quite hard on the same piece of the armor, apparently making sure that it was tight and snug enough that it wouldn't fall off.

A silence as awkward as could possibly be opened up between them all, before Alex broke it, saying, "…We're testing out some new armor Yuna gave me. What did you think we were doing?!"

Releasing her grip on the belt and dusting her handpaws off, Yuna remained silent but appeared to want an answer from the poncle as well.

"Uh…well, I thought…" Issun stammered, his unwillingness to answer painting a clear enough picture of what he had been thinking.

* * *

><p>Amaterasu's nap was interrupted again when another loud, yet somewhat tinier shriek split the air…and lo and behold, Issun fell out of the sky and ricocheted off the dirt, coming to a stop when he smacked into her side the same way a rock collided with a brick wall.<p>

"_I'm almost afraid to ask, but…did you find what you were looking for?"_ she asked, appearing completely unconcerned as the poncle peeled himself off of her side and spat out the dirt that he had swallowed when impacting the ground at high velocity.

"Not another word, Furball," Issun growled, once he had picked the last speck of dirt out of his teeth. _"Not another word."_

"_Alright, then,"_ she answered promptly, lying back down and quickly falling asleep again. Wolf goddesses needed their naptime, after all.

* * *

><p>"Honestly, Alex, did you really have to throw him out the window?" Yuna said, gently pulling on another buckle to make sure the armor was fitting the young man well enough.<p>

"Maybe not, but it still felt good," Alex replied, smirking at his own reflection as he examined himself. The sling his arm had once been in rested in a nearby corner, having been removed at Yuna's insistence since her soba elixir seemed to have fixed Alex's arm enough to let it work under its own power again. Alex was astounded at how fast the elixir had allowed his wounds to heal, but he certainly wasn't going to complain about it, he thought to himself as he subconsciously flexed the partially sore limb to make sure it was still working right.

The armor Yuna had giving him was…uniquely styled, to say the least. Yes, the first layer of it had all the appearances of a normal suit of basic leather armor, but it was when the second layer of protectiveness had been added on that the armor truly began to be set apart from the others Alex had seen during his time in Nippon.

The darkly colored leather itself was crafted to fit snugly around it's wearer's body with various straps and buckles that, while more visible than they had been with his old armor, still seemed to blend in rather well with it…not to mention that all the metal rings and buckles seemed to have been painted over to hide their sheen. The rest of the leather was colored in a similar fashion, sort of an extremely dark grey, almost black in nature.

Over the leather came metal plates, although these ones were different from the ones on Alex's old suit of armor. Instead of completely covering him from head to toe in their protection, these metal plates only covered his torso and parts of his arms and legs. Clearly, this indicated that the armor was more designed for speed, agility, and evasion, rather than simply tanking damage like a full suit of samurai armor could.

Then came the various accessories, starting with the facemask engraved with the intimidating design of a fox's bared teeth. After that came a rather interesting cloak, appearing to have some kind of design painted onto it, similar to the painted cloth tapestries of Kazegami that Alex had seen in the Gale Shrine…only this design had clearly been influenced by kitsune, similar to the facemask. It depicted two of the mythical animals, one white and one black, circled around each other in similar fashion to a ying-yang symbol. The colors were somewhat muted, however, likely done so that they wouldn't give away the wearer's position since the armor clearly was made with stealth in mind.

A pair of boots rounded out the set, tapered to a point in the front and shaped with a low but noticeable heel in the back…something that looked like a very refined cowboy boot, or something that a rich gentleman in old-timey England would wear. Regardless, the boots completed the armor's already sleek and efficient look.

Then there were the gloves.

"Uh…Yuna? What the hell's up with these gauntlets?" Alex asked, staring the one he was holding. By all appearances, it was a simple metal gauntlet crafted in the same theme and fashion as the rest of the armor…but that was before Alex noticed the inch-long metal pieces on the end of each finger, shaped suspiciously like _claws._

"Oh…that was an aesthetic choice by my mother. She always did like having a spare weapon or two on hand when nothing else was available…just in case," Yuna explained, taking it from him as she looked it over herself.

"Wait…_what?_ I'm confused here…" Alex responded. "Your _mom_ made this? Was she a blacksmith too?"

"No, no…" Yuna said, shaking her head and smiling a bit before gesturing for his hand, which she began fitting the gauntlet onto as she spoke. "She was a healer, through and through, and she taught me everything I know to this day. The armor you're wearing was in fact something she acquired through her travels in Nippon."

"Oh…so that's the reason for all of…_this?"_ Alex asked, gesturing at all the various and interesting knick-knacks scattered through the room they were in.

"Yes, all of these things were…_souvenirs,_ you might say. She likes to travel a lot and see the world, which is the same reason why she is gone right now."

"Huh. Nice," Alex said, eventually nodding. "So how'd she get her hands on this armor?"

"She once masqueraded as a traveling medicine man, selling '_exotic medicines and concoctions from faraway lands'_," Yuna spoke with a mock drama. "What people didn't know was that these concoctions were often those of her own creation…actual medicine for those she deemed worthy and in great enough need for her skill."

Yuna finished adjusting the gauntlet, and watched as Alex experimentally closed and opened his fist, the young man paying particularly close attention to the deadly looking metal claws now on the ends of his fingers.

"…Alright, so what happened?" he said after a moment, appearing unsure of the addition but satisfied nonetheless as Yuna began to put on the second one for him.

(_Halo Legends OST – True Arbiter_)

She took a moment to answer, apparently recalling the memories from a long time ago, given the distant look her eyes took.

"…A few decades ago, she was accosted by a man on the side of a road out in the wilderness, saying that his son was dying of some illness that had stricken him and that he had no medicine on hand to cure him. He begged my mother, still appearing as a medicine man, to sell him 'his' wares, promising to pay him 'with his finest creation, crafted to exact specifications'."

"And your mom helped him, even though she knew he could be lying?"

"One look at the man's son told her that he was not lying…and instead of selling the man the medicine he would need, my mother vowed to cure the boy herself. However, she gave the boy's father one condition: he was not to disturb her _at all_ during her work. Not even a small peek into the room where she and the man's son would be in," Yuna spoke.

Alex nodded, having read enough about Japanese mythology in history class to know where this story was heading.

"And so she worked tirelessly to cure the boy of the disease that had crippled him," Yuna continued with her story, finishing up the second gauntlet and allowing Alex the time to look himself over in the mirror. "Her skill was put to the ultimate test; the boy had drunken water from a fetid source of water, and the disease he had contracted as a result was shockingly resilient…but in the end, she triumphed, and managed to cure him."

"And let me guess…" Alex cut in. "After she cured his son, this guy's curiosity got the better of him, and he snuck a peek inside, seeing your mom as a kitsune?"

Yuna's reflection stared at him in the mirror, and she shook her head, saying, "No. That never happened."

"Huh?" Alex burst out, spinning around to face her and nearly losing his balance on the heeled boots that he hadn't gotten used to yet. "But isn't that how the story always goes? The kitsune gets revealed and it ends up running away?"

"Well _some_ of them, maybe, but not all of them _all the time_! Where on Nippon did you get that idea?"

"…Nevermind," Alex acquiesced, already feeling a headache coming on from having yet another small portion of what he thought he already knew turned upside down by the race of trickster foxes. "So how _did_ the story end?"

"As I said, my mother cured the boy…and as it would turn out, the man she helped was an expert blacksmith. True to his word, he immediately set to repay her work, putting all of his skill and effort into making it the best creation that his own two hands could possibly make," she told him. "This armor…this armor is the product of that blacksmith's work…but oddly enough, my mother never wore it. She told me that since it was crafted with a man's _dimensions_ in mind, she never found much use for it for most of her preferred human forms…"

Reaching out and touching the shoulder pad of the armor, as though drawing solace from the memory of it, she smiled a bit.

"…but I think she was so entranced by its perfection that she did not wish to ruin it with combat and the wear and tear of travel," she finished. "Still, I imagine such a magnificent creation should not gather dust instead of doing what it was made for."

"…You really think she'd be ok with you just giving it to me?" Alex asked warily.

"My mother was very generous, always thinking of others before herself…which was why she became a healer in the first place," Yuna answered. "I think she would be happy to assist you, if she were here right now."

Alex nodded, certainly appreciative of the obvious care and skill that had gone into the crafting of the armor…even more so, now that he knew of its origin.

Staring at the clawed gauntlets again, Alex suddenly got a random thought in his head and asked, "Hey, did your mom ever catch the name of the blacksmith's son by any chance?"

Yuna put her handpaw to her chin as she thought for a moment, then nodded. "I think she said his name was…Gizo? Yes, that was it. Gizo."

She seemed confused by Alex's sudden smirk, but when she questioned him about it, he said it was nothing.

"_Gizo…"_ Alex thought to himself, laughing inwardly as he turned back to the mirror and examined himself. _"Son of a bitch."_

* * *

><p>After the rather embarrassing series of events had played themselves out (much to Alex's relief), the better part of the day was spent getting him used to the armor that Yuna had given him. Once he had gotten used to the balance of the slightly heeled boots, the kitsune princess took him out on a tour of her village, to let him walk about and get a feel for the armor, and as yet another part of their "date" as she kept referring to it, much to Alex's chagrin. The better portion of the day was spent in this way, allowing Alex to finally stretch his limbs in much needed exercise, given that he had spent the better part of the last few days recovering in bed.<p>

His limp had all but vanished now, and the soreness in his once-broken and recently unslung arm was quickly following suit. True to her word, Yuna's soba elixir that she had been making him take up to that point was working wonders in healing his injuries, even going so far as to reduce the itching sting from the knife wound in his back to nothing more than a dull throb, and allowing the young man to travel fair stretches of distance before needing to rest. He clearly wasn't well enough to make the journey back to Kusa Village yet, but Yuna assured him during her tour that he would be soon, within a few days at the most. Otherwise, she kept his attention more on what she was showing him, in order to take his mind off his injuries and focus on more positive things.

Alex hadn't known before, but there was certainly a lot more to the village than what met had first met the eye. Yuna showed him everything interesting there was to know about the village and how things worked within it, like how her people gathered fish and fresh water from the river, and how the skins from the animals they hunted where repurposed into things such as blankets and hides for the huts. She put particular emphasis on how nothing went to waste, and how all of these things were in fact gifts from their goddess…a name that Alex had heard a few times before.

"Inari, right?" he spoke up at one point, as they walked along one of the many trails weaving throughout Kawa Village. "That's the name of your goddess?"

"Greatmother Inari, to be more specific," Yuna corrected. "But yes, she is the deity of our race."

"So you don't believe in the Brush Gods then?"

"Oh, we believe in them!" Yuna chuckled. "Your friend Amaterasu is living proof that they exist…but we do not worship them as our primary deities. Greatmother Inari is the one we believe in, the one who gives my people both their strength and wit alike. She is highly respected among my people, as you have likely gathered by now."

"I can imagine…given how they reacted when you were defending Oki and Issun," Alex muttered. "What was that all about, anyways?"

Yuna stopped for a moment, pursing her lips as she considered Alex's question.

"It is…difficult to explain…" she began. "Other than that…well…"

"…well, what?"

She sighed, looking off to the side slightly. "I suppose to put it in a way you would understand…I am placing my honor on the line in order to keep you and your friends from causing trouble for the River Kitsune."

"Your _honor?_" Alex queried, making a confused face. "Wait…you don't mean…you'll lose the respect of your people if I put one toe out of line?"

"Well not _one toe_, or me AND your friends would have been banished from the village a long time ago!" Yuna explained. "The rules on such a thing are a tad lenient, you might say, but generally, you should not do something so serious as to _enact_ a serious punishment. No killing, no stealing, and no attracting outsiders that you do not know to the village, unless you do so inadvertently."

"Do those same rules go for Ren and Miyu?"

Yuna laughed lightly, saying, "My parents and my aunt and uncle reached an understanding about this long ago…ever since their own tribe was destroyed-"

"Wait, _what?"_ Alex exclaimed in response to this sudden new bit of information.

"…You mean, you didn't know?" Yuna queried, raising an eyebrow at him. "Yes, the Mori Tribe…the realm of the forest kitsune…it was destroyed about a century ago, at the same time that the Takeda Clan fell. You've heard the stories, correct?"

"Well, yeah, but…Ren and Miyu never told me that they were part of the Mori Tribe!" Alex spoke, still reeling slightly as he thought to himself, _"They're from the same tribe as Amunae! Are they following me, then? What the hell is UP with those two?!"_

"Well, yes, it is true…they are the sole survivors of the demon attack that destroyed the Mori Tribe. My parents and I knew them since long before the attack, of course – hence, why I always refer to them as my aunt and uncle – but it wasn't until the attack actually happened that they sought out our aid…and fortunately, my mother and father gave it to them," she explained, pacing off a few steps as she recalled the memories from her past. "My parents gave them sanctuary here, and allowed them to recover…gave them free passage to and from the tribe as they did what they could to help."

"So why did they leave, then?" Alex asked. "I mean, they must have left at _some_ point."

"Even I do not know for sure," she admitted. "They only mentioned something about a certain sword, and that was all."

"_A sword…" _Alex thought to himself, putting his hand to his chin as a few of the puzzle pieces fell into place. _"…Aku-Hametsu."_

"…Alex? Is something the matter?" Yuna asked him, turning back to face him. "You seem a little…_surprised_."

"…It's nothing," he answered hurriedly, quickly brushing past her. "Come on, you've still got more of the village to show me, right?"

She seemed unconvinced – not surprising, given Alex's behavior – but merely shrugged and followed as the continued along the trail at a renewed pace.

"_Ren and Miyu…man, those two have some explaining to do, the next time I see them…IF I see them again…"_ Alex thought to himself, adjusting the belt on his new armor and still somewhat unused to how quietly he seemed to be moving in comparison to his old suit of armor.

Like a trained assassin…instinctually quiet, even when not making a conscious effort to do so.

"_Damn…I almost even LOOK sorta like one of them…"_ he thought grimly to himself, picturing the outfit that Kurenai's assassins had worn down in the caves. _"I really hope this isn't a bad omen of things to come…"_

Suddenly, a shout of _"Yuna! Yunaaaaaa!"_ reached their ears, making the kitsune in question flatten her ears against her head in a clear sign of annoyance.

"Oh, blast it…my father is calling me, it would seem," she spoke with no small hint of irritation, letting off a sigh as she added, "I'm afraid we may have to cut our 'date' a little short, Alex…"

"Aww, well…" Alex responded, shrugging a bit. "Hey, I had a good time, though!"

"Did you?" she asked, staring at him as if to gauge the truthfulness in his statement.

While Alex didn't exactly like the sudden scrutiny, he still had to admit that the time he had spent with her up to that point (barring the more embarrassing moments) hadn't exactly been the _worst _experience_. _In fact, it was likely because of that fact that he found himself nodding. It was rather difficult for him to pinpoint at the moment, but something stirring in him actually and sincerely _liked_ spending time with the kitsune princess.

At his nod, she smiled wide enough to show all of her sharp teeth and stepped forward to give him a massive squeeze of a hug…enough that she actually (and most likely unintentionally) began smothering him against her chest. Fortunately, Alex's air supply lasted long enough that he didn't pass out…although he did appear close to hyperventilating when she finally released him, likely for more than the obvious reasons.

"I did too!" she exclaimed cheerfully, appearing not to notice his current condition. "And, well…if you don't think you would mind…I would like to spend some more time tomorrow with you if that is alright!"

"Uh…yeah…yeah…that'd…be nice…" he muttered dreamily, staring off into the distance as he seemed to wobble precariously on his two legs.

"Are…you feeling alright?" she asked slowly, stepping forward to put one handpaw on his armored shoulder and taking the corresponding hand in the other. "You seem a little…short of breath."

"H-huh?" he suddenly answered more consciously, snapping out of his funk with a shake of his head. "Oh! Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine! Yeah, uh, tomorrow sounds great! I'm not doing anything myself, so, uh…yeah!"

Her smile came back as the corner of her muzzle turned up in some form of amusement, and she nodded, stepping back as she continued holding his hand.

"Then I look forward to tomorrow!" she spoke in her usual sweet tone of voice, letting his hand slide out of hers as she stepped out of arm's reach of him. "Until then, Mister Grey."

"Uh, yeah…ditto…" he muttered ineffectually, watching her walk off, her three tails swaying gently behind her, before she disappeared into the trees in the direction her father's voice had come from.

"_Whoa…uh…geez…what just happened there?"_ he thought to himself, looking down at his still open hand as though it would give him all the answers.

That was shortly before he felt something wet running down the front of his face, and with sudden concern for his own wellbeing, Alex reached up and touched it with the side of his finger so as not to hurt himself on the clawed gauntlets he was wearing, only to discover a crimson liquid where it had made contact just below his nose.

"_Oh, you have GOT to be freaking kidding me…" _he sudden thought. _"Am I SERIOUSLY having a nosebleed right now?! Christ, that's so cliché, it hurts!"_

His nose suddenly throbbed, and he winced as he put his hands to it in some attempt to stem the flow.

"_OW! Literally! Where the hell's a hanky when you need one?!"_

* * *

><p>That night, once Alex's little issue had resolved itself and everyone had gone to bed, the young man in question once again found himself standing in the Vault of Souls, the moment after drifting off to sleep.<p>

He sort of wished he hadn't when he saw Amunae's thoroughly un-amused expression, the fox having settled down on the dusty ground in front of the two statues of the Spider Queen and Crimson Helm, the massive graveyard of weapons still encircling them both as far as the eye could see.

"Are you ready to begin, young one?" Amunae spoke first, his tone of voice making it clear that he wasn't in the mood for any more delays.

"Uh…yeah…" Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you certain? No more little nightly excursions or flights of fancy to distract you?" the fox asked, sounding almost sarcastic in a way.

"…No…" came the sheepish reply.

Amunae stared hard at him for a moment, then let out a sigh and stood up on his four legs.

"Very well then. Let us begin."

And so, Amunae began to train him in the Art of the Sword-Wielder, as the kitsune made sure to mention at least several times, putting particular emphasis on it each time to get his point across. And Alex listened and followed as both his student and disciple, taking in the kitsune's knowledge on combat and the art of battle as he was put through the motions time and again.

Alex was reminded of the training methods that Oki had once used on him, only more refined in nature as Amunae had said before…but instead of focusing on building Alex's strength and endurance, which the fox said would be adequate for the time being, Amunae focused _exclusively_ on improving Alex's technique, and his skill with a variety of weapons.

Not only that, but the actual circumstances of the training were rather interesting as well. As Alex had suspected for quite some time now, Amunae held complete power over his domain within Aku-Hametsu…and as such, could apparently make time pass as quickly or as slowly as he wanted. This meant that in the course of a single night in the living realm, Amunae could teach him a _vast_ wealth of knowledge and techniques, enough to fill a week's worth of training.

Of course, Alex's stamina was unable to keep up with such a length of training time, but Amunae also had that aspect of his regime covered. In their moments of down time, Amunae's training shifted focus to improve Alex's _ki_, another critically important aspect of his training as the fox was quick to remind him.

And such was how Alex's life progressed over the next few days in the living realm. After training him up to satisfactory levels with the katana, Amunae then moved him onto learning how to work the rosary he had been given, the fox teaching him how to properly manipulate it with his mind and get it to do things Alex didn't even think was possible with the string of beads…such as causing the beads to split apart and fire off one after the other at illusory targets the kitsune conjured up for him. And once the young man had picked up enough skill in the rosary, the fox immediately moved him on to the massive two-handed glaives, which gave Alex trouble at first due to their immense weight and agonizingly long swing speed…at least, until he learned how to properly counterbalance the weapon's weight with his own, and shift his stance so as not to be thrown off balance with every attack.

When Alex's spirit-body inevitably grew tired from the physical exertion – and it often did – Amunae would make him stop and move him to the slightly less excruciating ki training, which involved teaching Alex new techniques while improving on his old ones. Oh, and there was meditation…LOTS of meditation, mixed with slow and exaggerated motions of his arms and legs, like some form of kitsune tai-chi. Amunae explained that this was to help improve the flow of ki through his bodily channels, which would strengthen the effect of the techniques that he used it on. Alex wasn't exactly of the same mindset, however. He had always thought of tai-chi as a waste of time and something to occasionally laugh at the absurdity of…

…At least, until he began to notice a subtle, but definite change in how well his ki techniques were being pulled off. Now, instead of slipping and falling every other time he tried to perform a wall jump, Alex was eventually leaping and bounding with confidence, even pulling off several of the massive leaps in a row, which allowed him to cross stretches of terrain both high and wide with an ease that astounded him. His ki running also improved, and so long as he maintained his focus without trying to worry about attacking or dodging (which Amunae did eventually make him start doing, much to his irritation), he could easily keep his balance and cross a massive distance that a full sprint would have taken him twice the time to cross, if his breath even held out that long.

Thanks to these massive training sessions that miraculously took place merely overnight, Alex's martial prowess and spiritual strength increased dramatically in a short time, with little to no fatigue felt in his living body, as it was his _spirit-body_ that was going through all the exertion. But it didn't end there…oftentimes, Amunae would make him take Aku-Hametsu out with him into Kawa Village in order to make him practice his motions, as well as hint at the sword's powerful soul-fueled abilities that he would soon be teaching him once his strength returned in full.

Once the kitsune was satisfied with Alex's training for the day, the young man would then go searching for Yuna…who, of course, often found him first. Their one "date" ended up spanning the length of a few days, and during this time, she would show Alex around her village, and take him on small hikes to various and interesting places that she had discovered during her many past hunting trips. These minor exertions helped restore the partially atrophied strength to Alex's living body, and when mixed with Yuna's continuous soba elixir treatments, served to slowly increase his ability to travel long distances.

As time passed, Alex actually found himself beginning to enjoy Yuna's company more and more…despite his discomfort around her; there was also something he realized that he genuinely liked about her as well…perhaps her quirkiness or outgoing personality. Regardless of what it was, Alex found himself actually _enjoying _his time with the kitsune princess as time went by, and the two of them quickly became great friends…especially when Alex began finding out enough about her to rib her back occasionally when she pulled one of her little tricks on him or made a teasing comment.

But while this was all well and good for him, Alex also couldn't take his mind off of one thing in particular…something that kept eating at him even as things continued to look up for him.

The near-future.

Alex knew that he would have to face Orochi eventually…that was the whole reason why Amunae was training him at such a prodigious rate, and why his recovery was being sped along the way it was. The demon had proven himself to be alive and well, spreading his taint across the land even now…and Alex was equally certain that if it wasn't for Amunae protecting him from the Demon Lord's nightmares, he would have likely gone insane a _long_ time ago.

And then there was Ammy…Alex was doing his best to try and push the thought of the white wolf out of his mind and focus on more important things, but no matter what he did, his thoughts kept turning back to the Sun Goddess, and Oki who was awake and wasting no time on trying to get back in touch with his obvious crush. The young man often spotted him with Amaterasu, the Oina tribesman and the white wolf chatting pleasantly for the most part, and while Alex knew that Oki was honorable enough to never make any kind of unwanted advance on Amaterasu, he couldn't help but feel the slightest pang of jealously…

…Then he reminded himself of the circumstances, of how Oki had laid eyes on her first, and that often was enough to make him take his mind off the subject and focus on whatever he was doing with Yuna at the time.

Little did he know that his glimpses of Amaterasu were a two-way street…

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Furball, those two are up to something!" Issun snapped at Amaterasu one particular night as she rested beneath the boughs of a large tree, quickly bouncing up and down next to the sleeping wolf as though that would help get his point across…a point that he had refused to let go of for days now, ever since he had walked in on Alex and Yuna doing something that could have potentially been taken the wrong way, though he hadn't told a single soul of the incident.<p>

Unfortunately for Ammy, the only thing that seemed to be getting across to her was the increasingly large cloud of dust that Issun's fervent hopping was kicking up, and after having been irritated by Issun almost without end for the past few days, it took every ounce of the Sun Goddess' will not to smash the poncle under her paw again out of agitation.

Finally realizing that Issun wasn't getting the hint from her non-responsiveness, she let out a huff and raised her head, speaking, _"Issun, even if they _were_ up to something, I doubt it would be very serious. Besides, Alex is a man of character; I doubt he would let himself be so easily distracted by Yuna…even if she is "smoking hot" as you've adequately put several times when you thought I wasn't listening."_

Issun drew back in shock at those words, sputtering indignantly even as Ammy smiled triumphantly at managing the rare task of getting the poncle to shut up for a few moments.

"W-W-Well…! Maybe that's the point!" he finally belted out. "Tinhead might be pretty clueless when it comes to women-"

"_Hmph. As if…"_ Amaterasu thought to herself, thinking back to all the rather obvious signs Alex had shown in relation to her in recent days.

"-but you gotta admit…Yuna's got a LOT going for her! I mean, come ON! Even YOU have to admit, that fox is liable to turn an eye or two when she goes walking by! Even Tinhead would have a hard time around her, 'specially since he's spending _so much time_ with her! Tell me you've seen it too, Furball!" Issun finished, appearing very sure about his stance on this particular subject.

Well…while Amaterasu didn't exactly want to admit it out loud, she had to admit…Alex HAD been spending quite a lot of time with the kitsune healer recently.

"_No! What are you thinking? Alex would never…!"_ she told herself, before calming down a bit and switching the focus of her telepathy back to Issun. _"I highly doubt that Alex would so willingly pursue her. Yuna may have certain…_elements_ that make her more attractive to the common man, but even so, I would hardly call Alex a 'common' man. And besides…" _she added, with a bit of a huff to punctuate her sentence, _"I hardly see what else besides that makes her so attractive. With the way I've seen her act the last few days, she seems a tad _tipsy_ in the head."_

The moment Issun heard her say that, something seemed to click in his tiny little brain.

"Wait a minute…_wait just a gosh-dang minute!"_ he snapped, hopping up and down in front of her.

Even at the high speed he was moving, Amaterasu could see the smug grin that had appeared on his face, and she immediately feared the worst.

"_No, Issun, you don't understand-!"_

"Don't understand? I TOTALLY understand!" he quipped. "You're JEALOUS, aren't you?!"

"_J-jealous?!" _she stammered, having been completely caught off-guard by the poncle's brief revelation, which in turn caused the defense mechanism of her snippy side to react. _"T-that's impossible! I am the Goddess of the Sun! What POSSIBLE reason do I have for feeling JEALOUS?"_

"You ARE jealous, admit it!" Issun accused lightheartedly, stopping his bouncing for long enough to point at her with his finger. "You don't like seeing Tinhead hanging out with the hot fox babe, do ya?!"

"_WHAT?! Why on Nippon would I care about-!" _she stated loudly, her irritation quickly turning into genuine anger at the poncle's insistence on carrying this on for much longer than she would have preferred.

Of course, Issun completely missed what was going on, his mirth only growing as he started laughing, which interrupted her statement long enough for him to say, "HAH! Ammy and Tinhead, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-!"

Issun never finished the phrase, for in the instant that followed, Amaterasu slammed her paws down into the ground in front of him with a savage snarl usually reserved for demons, shouting at the top of her voice, _"I AM NOT JEALOUS!"_

The force of the shout was enough to knock Issun off his feet and send him bouncing away into the nearby bushes, his startled yell splitting the air with surprising volume.

Panting furiously, each heavy breath punctuated with a growl, Amaterasu finally realized just how angry she was getting…a sobering thought that allowed her to begin calming down.

It was at that point that she realized her heckles were raised, and that the reflector upon her back had sprung to life and was burning furiously, casting both light and heat over the forest around her.

"_W…what?"_ she whispered to herself. _"Was I...was I truly that angry?"_

She heard the bush that Issun had fallen into rustling, and the poncle in question stepped out, appearing relatively unharmed save for a few scuffs and dirt marks on his helmet.

"…_Issun?"_ she asked, her angry having now been replaced with concern for her friend.

Picking out a leaf that had somehow wedged itself between his helmet and his hair, it took Issun a long moment before he finally managed to look at her, and let off a quiet, somewhat nervous laugh.

"Heh…uh…guess I took that a little far, huh Furball?"

Ammy lowered her head a bit as guilt struck her, and she was quiet for a little while before she finally said, _"…I'm…I'm sorry, Issun, I…"_

"Hey, it's…it's ok. You kinda lost your head a bit. Happens to all of us, especially with what we've all been through so far…" Issun replied. "Heh…heck, you should see me when I REALLY lose it!" he added, trying to inject a bit of humor back into the conversation.

She managed a tiny smile, and answered, _"You mean, like you always do with Waka?"_

"Hah! Not even close! I've gone even _further_ than that!"

"_Oh, really? Tell me more, then,"_ she spoke encouragingly, lying back down again and prompting Issun to hop back over to her.

"Yeah, you should have really seen the yelling match I had with a merchant once!" he started speaking, quickly sounding like his old self again as he recounted one of his many "feats" during his wandering days. "The guy was trying to rip me off on paper and ink prices, so I really let him have it!"

Amaterasu listened as he told his tale, and while she was happy that this brief upset hadn't really thrown off anything in their friendship, she was still worried about why it had happened.

Yes, she cared about Alex in more ways than she likely cared to admit, and yes, she had certainly noticed that he was spending a lot of time with Yuna, but still…was that really enough to make her jealous, as Issun had stated?

Was she truly getting _that_ involved with Alex, despite the fact that their relationship had made absolutely no progress past being friends, and likely wouldn't for a while, if _ever?_ And that was after she had realized that she had _never_ done something like this in regards to Oki, even when someone like his friend Kai was close by. There had been no jealousy there, no wayward thoughts of trying to keep him all to herself…but what about now? Did she truly care about Oki enough now that such things _would_ start happening?

Or was fate trying to tell her something?

She found herself worried when she couldn't answer that question…

* * *

><p>"So what's is going to be this time, <em>sensei?"<em> Alex stated with mild sarcasm towards the sword resting against the wall of the hut as he pulled the facemask and cloak off the armor that Yuna had given him, which he had been both wearing over the past few days and training in so as to get himself used to it. "More glaives, or are you gonna start teaching me the good stuff about Aku-Hametsu?"

"_Patience, young one. That training will come soon, but the basics of each weapon you shall be using in the future come first," _Amunae answered.

"You know, I just realized something…why are you even teaching me how to use glaives anyways?" Alex stated with curiosity. "If Orochi's the next greater demon I'm facing-"

"_Then it shall be a matter of skill with your existing weapons,"_ Amunae stated firmly. _"The values of some of the lessons I am teaching you may not be apparent now, but they most certainly will in the future…and of course, it never hurts to be prepared."_

"Huh!" Alex snorted. "I never figured you as much of a practical person."

"_As you should know by now, young one, you can learn all there is about a kitsune in the course of a year, and yet, even after a hundred years, they can still find ways to surprise you."_

"Amunae, I'll most likely be dead in a hundred years," Alex deadpanned.

"_Oh, you know what I mean…"_ the fox stated irritably, although Alex also sensed a sort of amusement behind his words. _"Now, are you coming in, or not?"_

"Yeah, yeah, just as soon as I get all this armor off, and-"

A light tap on the shoulder made him suddenly turn around, and a surprised Alex found himself staring straight into the ice-blue eyes of Yunalesca, the kitsune princess having come up behind him without making a sound.

"Would you like to go stargazing?" she asked, without letting him form a response, or even asking who on earth he was talking to in an empty room.

"Uh…" was all Alex could formulate as a response, sneaking a glace back at Aku-Hametsu resting in the corner.

He expected Amunae to deny him the little experience Yuna had planned, but found himself surprised again when the fox spirit simply cleared his throat and said, _"Well? She is waiting for your answer, young one."_

"_Whatever happened to 'training first, fun second'?"_ Alex quipped.

"…_I think you have been working hard enough to earn a night off…besides, she seems to have taken a liking to you, hmm?"_ Amunae remarked, his mental image raising an eyebrow.

"_W-what?!"_

The kitsune merely chuckled, saying, _"Relax, young one, I merely jest. Go and enjoy yourself. That is a command from your sensei."_

Alex had to resist smirking since he was standing in front of Yuna, and instead transferred it into an accepting smile as he nodded. "Sounds good," he replied to both of them, quickly slipping his cloak back on and grabbing the facemask as an afterthought.

Returning his smile, she took him by the hand – which had gotten much stronger since the corresponding arm had been removed from the cast – and led him out of the hut, cutting horizontally across the slope of the bowl-shaped valley Kawa Village was in and leading him straight into a thick patch of forest, weaving around the trees as she led him on a path that he doubted he'd be able to follow on his own.

Several minutes passed this way, during which she let go of his hand and allowed him to run under his own power for once…although this time, she seemed not to mind letting him follow a little more closely than the previous little chases they had where the kitsune princess had baited him along with the occasional glimpse. Now that he was effectively healed, thanks to her skill, he found that keeping up with her was much less challenging…even though he had no doubt that she could still leave him in the dust if she wanted to.

But for now, she seemed content to run along with him at his own manageable pace, staying just ahead so as to lead him wherever they were going…which seemed to be somewhere outside of the village, given the distance that Yuna was taking him. Apparently, the place she was leading him was a good ways away, and apparently worth it enough to warrant going through the forest in the dead of night.

Eventually, Alex spotted an opening in the trees ahead and moved to try and catch up with Yuna. Going through, they both slowed to a stop, Yuna looking over her shoulder and watching as Alex took in the scenery: a large, grassy field that was clear enough of the treeline in afford them a completely unfettered view of the starry night sky. The grass itself reached up to his knees and rustled pleasantly in the light breeze alongside the faint echo of the river nearby, lending the place a calm and serene atmosphere. Undoubtedly, it was another amazing place that Yuna had discovered during her long life, and Alex found himself smiling as he realized how many unique and wondrous places actually existed in the realm of the River Kitsune – many of which he likely had yet to see, even after Yuna's daily sightseeing trips.

He found himself pulled from his thoughts when he heard Yuna begin to hum, as she began to lightly dance and twirl through the knee-high grass with all the grace of a ballerina, but without the rigidness of a professional. She was clearly dancing to her own song, and appeared fully content with that as her arms spread wide and she twirled around, her three tails trailing behind her like elaborate streamers as she slowly made her way towards the center of the clearing.

Then he noticed something else rather interesting: her dancing appeared to be scattering tiny little balls of light into the air, coming out of the grass as she moved through it and appearing to hang around her in the air, as though they were as entranced with the spectacle as Alex was.

_Fireflies,_ he realized upon closer inspection, as he slowly walked behind her through the grass and in between the floating insects, many of them moving aside for him as he drew close. Those that didn't actually moved in closer, slowly drifting towards him and stopping in front of his face as though they were trying to get a closer look at him. Instinctively, his ingrained reaction towards "icky bugs" kicked in, and he brought his hands up to wave them away as they got a little too close for comfort.

Yuna chose that exact moment to turn around, and seeing him trying to smack the fireflies away, she let off a short gasp and darted back to grab his upraised hand.

"No, no!" she half laughed, half chastised. "They mean you no harm! They are only curious!"

"…And you know that _how?"_ Alex queried, eyeing the nearest of the bugs.

"Does that really matter? Come, you've dealt with worse than a few little bugs," she said dismissively, pulling him along a bit.

"Oh, you have _no _idea…" Alex muttered under his breath, thinking back to that horrific moment with the bandit spider and her brood down in the caves.

Leading him to the center of the clearing, as the fireflies continued to float about them, she sat down in the grass and gestured for him to do the same, the two of them leaning back a bit as they craned their necks towards the stars in the sky.

"Do you know about many constellations, Alex?" she eventually asked him.

"Well, I know about a few of the more obvious ones…stargazing's not really my thing, especially with some of the more recent stuff going on," he answered, still looking skyward.

"Oh? Alright then, see if you can point them out," she lightly challenged him.

"Easy enough," he responded, shrugging. "If I look hard enough I can probably spot the big dipper somewhere and-"

Alex suddenly realized the contradiction to his statement, and he trailed off into a sullen silence.

(_To the Moon OST – Moongazer_)

"…Alex? What's wrong?" Yuna asked him, noticing the sudden halt of his words and looking at him with slight concern.

"Eh, it's nothing."

"Nonsense. You can tell me."

Alex let off a sigh, and was silent for a good while before eventually saying, "…Wrong sky."

"Hmm?"

"It's the wrong sky," he clarified. "It's…not the same sky where I come from, so…no real constellations that I can spot."

"You mean…you don't know _any_ of the constellations? None of the Brush Gods, or Inari's disciples, or the brave warriors of the past?" she spoke.

"…Guess not," he replied simply, smirking slightly as he said it…but she could tell that it was a bit forced.

"Would you…like me to show you, then?" she asked gently.

He turned to regard her, and the innocent yet somewhat serious look on her face.

"…Yeah…I…I think I'd like that," he slowly answered. "I mean, if that's ok with you…"

Smiling lightly, she responded by lying down and putting her hands behind her head as she looked up into the sky, her mane of flowing white hair spread out on the grass beneath her as she glanced at him.

"Alright…" she began. "I suppose we should start with something a little familiar to you then, such as the Brush Gods. The first one should be Yomegami the Dragon, right about…there." Pointing a claw tipped finger into the sky, she directed Alex's gaze to the proper section of the sky and asked him, "Do you see his long, winding tail? And the four stars representing the orbs he is holding in his claws?"

"I…think so…"

"Why don't you lie down? It would make spotting them easier," she suggested.

He was hesitant at first…but surprisingly didn't think too much about it this time, despite his past discomforts. In a small act that he almost surprised himself with, an act that was truly representative of how comfortable he was getting around her, Alex decided _"What the hell,"_ and lay down right next to her with few – if any – second thoughts, setting the facemask on the ground next to him.

And she began to show him the constellations that made up the stars of Nippon's night sky, speaking to him about what each one represented and the telltale signs of how to spot them. During that time, Alex occasionally pitched in his own comment or two, and also told her about a few of the constellations from his own world despite her not being able to see them. Even if his descriptions weren't always the best, she would always listen attentively, propping herself up on an elbow as she looked over at him and giving him the occasional nod to show that she understood.

"So that one's Yumigami?" Alex had asked at one point.

"Yes, good. And that one is Tachigami, with the three stars making up his glaive," she responded, pointing upwards at another cluster of stars.

"Uh-huh…what about that big shiny star right there?"

"…That's the moon."

"No, no! _NEXT _to the moon!"

A few hours passed in this way…hours that Alex hardly seemed to notice going by, fixated as he was upon their little discussion.

As time passed, she seemed to scoot a little closer to him as well, perhaps so as to better show him a particular formation of stars that he was having difficulty with but not bothering to move away afterwards…and before long, she was snuggled right up against him, which again, he seemed not to mind as much as he used to. No embarrassed blushing, no stuttering words, none of the things that once betrayed the discomfort he used to feel.

He may not have noticed too much, as he kept talking…but she certainly did.

And that put a genuine smile on her face as she continued staring at him, perhaps not even listening very much to what he was saying anymore, but still enjoying the moment nonetheless as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Then there's the whole deal with horoscopes, which are constellations that are supposed to tell your future or whatever…it's a bunch of crap, if you ask me, but people still seem to buy into it. That sound funny to you?" he asked.

No answer.

"…Yuna?" he queried, turning his head to look at her.

Again, no response. As it turned out, she had fallen asleep, snuggled up against him with her head on his shoulder and her arm resting partway across his chest.

"_Oh…well…guess I'm not the only one feeling tired these days…"_ he thought with a mental shrug, looking back up at the sky. _"Heh…lucky me."_

His amusement was shortly lost, when his expression turned serious again and a sobering thought came to mind.

"_What the hell are you doing, Alex?"_ his brain said to him.

"_What do you mean? I'm just hanging out with her,"_ he snapped back, not in the mood to have this kind of discussion with himself.

"_You know EXACTLY what I mean, Alex!"_ his brain responded.

"_If this is some kind of crap about me and Ammy, then…!"_ he began, but stopped himself before he finished. _"No, you know what? Screw you. I've already discussed this too many times with you."_

"_Why? Because you don't have the guts for it?"_

"_Screw you!" _he yelled back, now getting thoroughly angry with his thought process. _"I'm NOT betraying Ammy or some other bullshit because of this! You're always the one spouting off at me about how it wouldn't work between us, and now you're just gonna come back and tell me that I shouldn't be doing this EITHER?"_

"_What do you think?!"_

"_What do _I _think?! I think that since I apparently can't do anything with Ammy without pissing Oki OR you off, I'm perfectly entitled to hang out with someone ELSE that I like!"_ he snapped. _"That's all!"_

"_Hmph. You're pathetic," _his brain sneered at him.

"_What?!"_

"_You don't even like Yuna that much, do you?"_

"_Are you crazy?! Of course I like her, but-!"_

"_But what?"_ his brain interrupted.

That was when it hit him. That was when it became clear.

"_Do…do I…?" _he began, his thoughts much more quiet now. _"…Do I…really like Yuna in THAT kind of way? Or…do I only THINK I like her, because I can't get anywhere near Ammy now without hurting Oki?"_

"_And now you see it,"_ his brain replied. _"So, now that you've worked your way into this little mess, how are you going to get yourself out of it?"_

Alex thought about it, about his feelings for both Ammy and Yuna, both women that he genuinely liked as friends…but was incredibly wishy-washy on anything past that.

Did he really want to try and keep up some form of charade with Ammy, knowing that it wouldn't go anywhere?

Did he really like Yuna, in that kind of way? Or was he just fooling himself into thinking he did, so as to avoid…something else?

Something like the pain he had felt, when his first girlfriend had left him?

"_I…" _he began. _"I…I don't know…"_

Another derisive snort from his brain.

"_Fine. Keep fooling yourself into thinking that you won't hurt anyone with this. In the meantime, me and your conscience will be watching to see what you do…IF you end up deciding to do something worthwhile."_

Alex just closed his eyes and let out the deep breath that he had been holding.

"_Screw you,"_ he responded, suddenly feeling very tired himself.

He lay there for a long while, mulling things over as he closed his eyes and listened to the faint echo of the river nearby, calming down a bit after his little internal debate and trying to organize his thoughts…even as he felt Yuna shift a bit against him into a slightly more comfortable position.

"…_I know this doesn't have to mean anything, but still…what do I do here?" _he finally thought to himself._ "I don't THINK Ammy's noticed yet how much I'm hanging out with Yuna compared to her, but what happens when she does? She seems level-headed enough that she likely won't flip out…but I'd rather not take the chance of making the Sun Goddess of all people angry at me," _he thought a bit, keeping his eyes closed and briefly entertaining the mental image of a furiously pissed-off Amaterasu…which was enough to almost make his shudder.

"_But even so…I still don't know where I stand with Yuna. I mean, I definitely LIKE her – and who wouldn't? – but where is this whole deal going with her? She keeps calling our get-togethers 'dates', but that's just because of my joke backfiring on me, so it doesn't exactly mean much…still, I don't think ANY woman's been this flirtatious with me, even if she's mostly just being friendly. So where do I stand with her? And more importantly, what would her overbearing dad think about it?"_ he continued.

The mental images of a furious Ammy were replaced with images of him running for his life from a furious Chieftain Keikai, but surprisingly, the image didn't frighten him as much as the previous one did.

"_Overbearing dads, I think I can deal with…but an angry friend? Who feels betrayed by the fact that I'm seeing a different woman, just because I don't want to ruin my relationship with an entirely DIFFERENT friend? God, this is getting too complicated…"_

Finally feeling himself begin to drift off a bit, Alex decided with reluctance to file away the thoughts for another time.

"…_I'm too sleepy to think this over right now. And besides, we're gonna be leaving soon, and I seriously doubt Yuna's going to be coming with us. If I bide my time, maybe I can avoid some kind of horrible confrontation."_

He cracked open his eyes to look at the sleeping kitsune next to him, and sighed inwardly before closing them again.

"_I'm gonna miss her, that's for sure…but some things just can't be avoided. It's for the best…"_

* * *

><p>"Report."<p>

"He is vulnerable, commander. He has left the safety of the village with not but a single fox to protect him." the scout replied.

This was it.

The moment of truth.

The time when the very air itself seemed alive with the energy of the moment, and made his nerves stand on end…that made his trained hands twitch with anticipation and the beat of his heart quicken within his chest.

The beginning of the hunt…the tracking of his prey…and the final moment when he ran it down and prepared to deal the finishing blow.

This was where he finished what he had started.

Kurenai, the Hunter-Assassin gripped the haft of his scythe tightly as he surveyed the bowl-shaped valley, his assassins gathered around him in their full battle gear. Swords, bows, and knives alike were gripped in their gloved hands, their shifting movements silenced by years of training and the smooth subtlety of their leather armor.

More than one of them would draw blood tonight…and more than one of them would earn glory for their families at home.

But Kurenai knew enough about kitsune to know that the assassins alone would not be enough…even though they had taken measures to disguise their scent and move unseen through the forest, chance were that at least one of them would be detected at some point, which would subsequently put the entire tribe on alert. Kurenai refused to let himself be dissuaded by such an occurrence, as he planned to leave this forest with the boy's head in a sack over his shoulder…so he had planned ahead.

Arrayed even further behind him, were demons of all kinds – enough to constitute a small army. Kurenai, not wanting to fail this time and therefore not taking any chances, had requested a contingent of demons from Lord Nobunaga to help fill out his ranks. He had gotten them too...as well as a few that he didn't expect.

The bull charger and the fire beast stood at the front of the group of demons, both of them pawing at the ground in anticipation. The bull charger, looking much like a smaller version of Crimson Helm, towered above them all, wearing a horned mask of solid iron over its face and carrying two massive clubs in its massive hands. The fire beast in turn looked much like an ordinary horse…that is, a horse on fire. Its entire body was engulfed in fire hot enough to sear the grass in a small radius around it, and many of the other demons had given it a wide berth as a result of that.

They, along with the rest of the demons, would serve to distract the rest of the kitsune while he and his minions searched for the boy. In and out. It would be as simple as that for them. As for the demons…they were expendable.

That was just how he liked it.

With a single exaggerated gesture, Kurenai swept his hand up into the air, and the demons tensed up all at once.

The hand swept forward…and in an instant, the demons flooded past him like water through a broken damn, all of them hooting and shrieking wildly as they charged into the valley…straight for the village.

The kitsune would muster a defense before long…but that was where the extra punch came in, especially when Kurenai held out his hand to stop the bull charger and fire beast as the moved to follow the horde.

Turning to the fire beast, Kurenai snarled, "Burn it to the ground! _ALL of it!"_

The fire beast responded by rearing up on its hind legs and letting off a bellowing roar, the fire on its body flaring up to even more intense levels as it charged off through the trees below, setting everything it came close to ablaze and causing a wildfire to quickly spring up in its wake as it tore through the forest on a blazing path of destruction.

"And you…" Kurenai continued, turning to the Bull Charger. "Kill any fox you see with seven tails. I don't care how you do it, but do _NOT_ let them reach the Sword-Wielder!"

Smacking its two clubs together with an affirmative grunt, the bull charger let off an equally loud roar and charged towards the village, the demon's massive bulk giving it terrifying momentum as it barreled down the hill.

"The rest of you, find the boy," Kurenai then spoke to his entourage of assassins. "Riches to the family of the one who brings me his head."

With silence, the many shadows moved off into the forest, blending in with the night and quickly disappearing, leaving only Kurenai standing alone on the ledge overlooking the valley.

"_As for me…"_ he thought, looking down at his scythe, the black obsidian of its massive blade beginning to glow in the ever-growing forest fire.

"…_I have had enough of these damned foxes. Time to spill some blood."_

* * *

><p>Alex suddenly woke up with a start, quickly sitting up and looking around as though something had startled him.<p>

But nothing was there…including Yuna.

"_Huh…where'd she run off to this time?"_ he though, slowly standing up and dusting the grass off his armor.

(_Nier OST – Kaine Salvation_)

That was when he heard…_something._ It was just on the edge of his hearing, barely indiscernible over the faint echo of the nearby river, but appearing to come from the same direction as said river. Wondering what it could be, Alex moved off in the direction of it, back into the forest despite what it could possibly hold at this time of night.

Passing between the trees and through the brush, he came a bit closer to the river…and the sound grew clearer.

Clearer…and so beautiful that it made him stop dead in his tracks.

It was Yuna. She was singing again…but this song was very different than the one she had been singing when he had first met her.

This one was more…quiet sounding, with actual words instead of just the tones and inflections.

Resuming his pace, Alex moved through the forest a little more quickly, hearing the river get closer and slowing down as he came right up on it.

Stopping, he crouched down and pulled aside the bushes and looked through, wondering what Yuna could possibly be doing…and his breath caught in his throat.

She was…well…she was dancing. On the _surface_ of the river, like it had become a solid floor for her to walk on. Her arms were outstretched, and she was leaning her head back towards the sky as she sang towards the moon far above, her sparkling white hair slowing trailing behind. But what was even more confounding was that she seemed to be surrounded by swirls of water that were coming up from the river below her, trailing along with her movements as she slowly and gracefully twirled around in her dance.

It seemed like a dance to Alex, but there was also something else to it as well…something that he couldn't put his finger on, like there was some sort of mystical quality to the whole thing besides her just dancing for the sake of dancing.

It was almost like a…_ritual_ of sorts.

That final thought got Alex thinking, and his head was instantly filled with thoughts that he might have been intruding on something he wasn't supposed to see. Deciding not to chance it and leave before Yuna noticed him, Alex slowly let go of the bushes and turned around…

But his path was blocked…by what he realized was one of the thin streams of water that Yuna was somehow controlling.

The stream of scintillating water, reflecting the moon's light, slowly floated in front of him innocuously, close enough that Alex could see his own face reflected in its pure surface…and he couldn't bring himself to try and go through it to get away.

Feeling a little unsure about what to do, Alex slowly turned back around, and discovered with a start that Yuna had been standing right there behind him. At this close a range, Alex noticed that her normally ice-blue eyes were actually glowing with some kind of power…not in a creepy sort of way, but enough that it seemed to put him off a bit.

There was silence for a moment, as the two of them stared at each other, before Alex finally said, "I'm…not interrupting anything, am I?"

She didn't say anything…but her expression did seem a little somber. Like she was mildly saddened by something unspoken.

Then she held up her hand paw towards him, in a gesture for his own hand.

Staring at it a little uncertainly, Alex looked back up at her for a moment before slowly extending his own hand and placing it in her padded grip.

She blinked once, and smiled very lightly at him…not her usual cheerful smile, but again, something far more somber and somewhat serious in nature. Stepping back, she led him along much more gently than she had done in the past, lightly pulling on his hand instead of nearly dragging him along on the little hikes she had taken him on. Alex decided to oblige her, stepping along with her towards the bank of the river…but instead of walking on the surface again, she led him right into water, the two of them wading into the river's gentle flow as it reached up to their waists.

The water was freezing, but at that moment, Alex was less concerned with the river and more on what Yuna was obviously trying to include him in…which became a little more apparent when she pulled him a little closer to her and closed her eyes, appearing to concentrate as the streams of water from the river came up again and surrounded them.

If she was trying to impress him somehow, he had to admit, it was working. But again, he got the feeling that there was something else to this besides her just showing off.

Opening her eyes again, she looked into his eyes as he stared back into hers, silence continuing to pervade in between them.

"I'm…glad you came," she spoke quietly, so as not to break the mood.

"Why?" came the response.

Her eyes still glowing, she looked down slightly and took both of his hands into hers.

"…I was feeling lonely."

"Heh…really? I mean, we just saw each other a little while ago," he half chuckled, finding the statement a little amusing.

"…True, but…" she began, appearing a little unsure of something, which was a rarity of sorts in her case. "I was feeling lonely for different reasons."

"Like what?" Alex asked. "…if you don't mind me asking, that is."

She was quiet again, watching the water gently swirl about them for a moment, before saying, "Alexander…has my father ever asked you what the river means to you?"

"Yeah, actually…he asked both me and Ammy. Why do you ask?"

"…Do you know what the river means to _me_, Alex?"

The question, while put to him innocently enough, made him pause for a moment as he considered it.

His silence was apparently answer enough for her, because she continued with, "…To me, the river is a source of worldly knowledge, for as it runs throughout the land, it both sees and learns about many things in Nippon…and sometimes, I ask it for this knowledge."

"…Is that what you were doing here, then?" Alex slowly asked, referring to her dancing and singing earlier. "You were getting knowledge from the river?"

"Well, more or less, but I…" she began, but stopped again.

She was acting rather strange, given what Alex had seen from her before…she seemed much quieter and more reserved than she normally was, which was clearly showing in her halting words.

"…I was actually…praying," she finished quietly.

"…Praying? What for?"

She looked up into his eyes again…and even though they were masked in an icy blue glow, Alex could see the sadness that had suddenly appeared in them.

And it suddenly became clear to him.

"…Your mom…" he whispered. "You're…wondering where she is?"

(_K-Project OST – Knell_)

She didn't answer, other than to close her eyes and slowly look down…but Alex knew he had hit the mark.

"…You really miss her, don't you?" he spoke gently.

"It's…just…" she whispered, looking like she _wanted_ to talk, but was having great difficulty doing so. "…My father is always too busy looking after Kawa Village to spend much time with me…and…I cannot call anyone else in the tribe my friend either, because…"

"They're afraid of crossing you, because you're their princess?"

"…I _try…_so hard…to be gentle with them, and to help them…but even then, whenever I try to spend time with them in a more leisurely way…they are always so _rigid..._" she spoke.

So that was it then, he realized.

She really _was_ lonely…her father was too busy with his work to spend any meaningful amount of time with her, and her fellow kitsune were afraid of making her mad…or worse, making her father mad, should they say the wrong thing or accidentally act disrespectfully towards her.

"My mother…" Yuna continued, "…she was always there to spend time with me, always there to teach me how to be a healer, or how to hunt properly, or to simply walk in the forest with me and discover new places to explore. She's…she's the only real friend that I ever had…"

She went quiet, for a moment…but in a move that surprised both of them, Alex put his hand against her chin and gently raised her gaze up to his own.

"…I know how you feel," he said. "Maybe not about everyone being scared because you're higher up on the ladder than they are, but…I know what it's like to miss your parents. Heck, I miss mine right now…"

"…You do?" she asked gently.

"Yeah…I, uh…didn't exactly leave them in the best way, but…yeah…sometimes I just find myself wishing that I could see them again. Even just a glimpse, you know?" he said. "At least you know that your mom's coming back, right? She's just on a little trip?"

"…Well, yes, but I…" she answered, before halting again. "…I know that, wherever she is, she's alright, but…I just…feel so _lonely_ at times, whenever she's gone…and…"

She smiled somberly again, still looking at him, and said, "Then…you came into my life, and…all the loneliness went away."

"Huh…is that so?" he said, smirking a bit as he thought back to how they had first met.

"I know you'll be leaving soon, given how your injuries have healed…" she began, "…but…you're one of the first people I ever met who have ever just…acted like themselves around me. You're friendly, outgoing, not at all rigid and overly respectful, and…well…"

"Well, what?"

She took a deep breath, and smiled again, putting a hand against the side of his face.

"…Let's just say that, disregarding the time I have spent with my mother…I have never smiled this much around anyone else before."

"Well…" Alex began, still a little shy and uncomfortable by the close contact…at least until he looked back at her and her beautiful gaze. "…Glad I could help, I guess…" he finished.

This was it, he realized.

This was where he had to make a choice.

The setting, the mood, the way she was looking at him…Alex knew beyond a doubt that this was where he had to make a choice before he ran out of time.

Ammy, or Yuna?

The Sun Goddess, who he couldn't pursue without hurting Oki, or Yuna, the one who was effectively open without much to fear except her angry dad?

Trying to think quickly, Alex thought process jammed somewhere in between choices and in his slight panic, spoke, "Yuna, there's something I have to te-"

Before he could get it out, her claw-tipped finger was against his mouth, silencing him.

"I know…and…there's something I want to tell you too…" she whispered quietly, closing her eyes.

"Yuna, I-"

She kissed him.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment, the freezing water around his legs completely forgotten. His thought process completely ground to a halt, and his body stood there completely paralyzed from the shock.

"…_Oh my god…"_ he thought. _"Did…did I just…?"_

"Oh, sweet Yami…first he lets one of their spirits possess him, and now THIS?"

The unfamiliar voice reached both their ears, and in an instant, Yuna suddenly pulled away from him, causing the streams of water to fall back into the river, while she still maintained her hold on his arm and shoulder as she looked past Alex to the back behind him.

That was when he himself spotted them, behind _her_ as well, on the bank ahead and in the trees above.

"_No, it…it can't be!"_ he thought.

Kurenai's assassins…they had found them.

"Hmph," the same one who had apparently spoken earlier snorted. "You disgust me, boy. It's no small wonder why the commander wants you dead so badly. Throwing your lot in with _them?_ I would think the same as him!"

"Shit…!" he whispered, caught completely off guard. "We're out in the open! What do we do?!"

Yuna said nothing, but her grip remained firm nonetheless, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the one speaking behind Alex.

"Well, at least I have the honor of putting an end to this right here and now…" the assassin growled, as Alex heard the sound of arrows being drawn and nocked. "If the two of you are so keen on this, then you can both continue it in the afterlife!"

"Yuna…?" Alex asked, no longer paying attention to the man talking and instead focusing on the kitsune princess, her gaze still locked on the assassins behind him.

"…Do you trust me?" she suddenly spoke.

"What? I-"

"_Do you trust me?"_ she asked again, more insistently, her gaze still refusing to move.

"…Yes?"

In the span of a second, Yuna moved as quickly and as fluently as the river her people were bound to, immediately clamping a handpaw over his nose and mouth as the water around them suddenly swelled upwards…and completely engulfed them both.

"What th-! Fire! FIRE!" the assassin suddenly shouted, his comrades loosing their arrows at the spot where the two had been standing…and hitting nothing but water as the current suddenly picked up speed and carried them away from the danger.

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><p><strong>(Special thanks to my long-term reviewer Ahardie for the armor idea. Rate, review, and I'll see you next time!)<br>**

**Update (4-14-13): Steel in the Moonlight is officially going up on my dA page! Be sure to drop by and check it out if you want!**

**Update (5-22-13): Steel in the Moonlight is currently on hiatus. Refer to my Deviant Art page (link in my FFN profile) for more details. Also, it would seem the OC picture for Kurenai no longer exists, so I removed it from my profile page. Sorry!**


	44. The Battle for Kawa Village

**In case you were wondering, no you're not dreaming. I'm not lying, either. Go ahead, pinch yourself. Prove that you're not dreaming, I can wait.  
><strong>

***dodges hailstorm of rocks and dives for cover***

**Yes, people, it is I, the Lord of Foxes and Bacon (don't ask), finally returned after a many-month hiatus with yet another chapter for a story that you people refused to let die...not that I'm mad about that or anything. Quite the opposite, I'm happy that you people are still leaving reviews on this story even after it's been inactive for so long. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. It because of you people that I even had the motivation to grind this out after so long and so many temptations to finally just cut it loose and go on with my life without worrying about it.**

**Anyways, this chapter is the result of a loooooong time spent working, so please enjoy it. OR ELSE. *shot dead***

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><p><strong>Chapter 41: The Battle for Kawa Village<br>**

Carrying a small scroll under one arm, and a mug of tea in the other's hand, Chieftain Keikai slowly walked into his bedroom within his massive hut atop the ridge and sat down in his favorite chair by the window, the flap currently rolled up and allowing a fair and crisp breeze to flow in. Dressed warmly in his bedtime kimono, the chieftain settled back and unfurled the scroll as he found the place he had stopped last time during his bedtime reading, summoning a tiny hovering ball of foxfire for light and taking a small sip of his tea, licking the residual drops from his lips as he relished the taste.

His favorite flavor, which had always been part of his nightly rituals, and one of the few things he enjoyed about the otherwise droll human form he was forced to take at times.

It wasn't that he despised humans…he simply didn't like how _fragile_ their bodies seemed. No part of them seemed any bit as tough or powerful as his regal kitsune form, and he doubted that he would ever meet a human who would prove to be the exception to that little fact, except perhaps-

He snorted and returned back to his reading. The one called Alexander Grey had potential – anyone with eyes could see that – but Keikai plainly didn't like him. Something about the boy seemed to rub him the wrong way…especially since he had noticed in recent days that Yunalesca had been spending quite a lot of time with him…

"_Bah. My mind is intent on wandering this night, it would seem,"_ he thought un-amusedly to himself, as he set down the scroll and leaned his head back with a long, drawn-out sigh. _"But I honestly should not worry. Yunalesca knows better than to fall for his undisciplined and unscrupulous kind…but even so, I worry…"_

He stilled remembered her declaration when the second wolf and the annoying bug had been brought into the village. Such things were not taken lightly among his kind…and though he had faith in Yuna's ability to keep them all in line, there was always that small chance.

Reaching for his tea again, he made the rude discovery that it had already cooled in the brisk mountain wind, but this hardly concerned him. Flexing his hand once, another tiny ball of foxfire suddenly sprung to life in it, and he held the cup over it to warm the tea again.

As he was waiting, his nose caught something on the wind coming through his window that made him pause.

An unfamiliar scent…unable to be determined due to the weakened senses of his human form, but still there nontheless.

"_A simple thing to remedy,"_ he though as he stood up and continued heating his tea, even as he closed his eyes and concentrated for a short moment.

Opening them again, he found that his vision had sharpened considerably, as had his sense of smell, along with the reappearance of his muzzle as his fox-headed form came forth. With his senses now vastly superior to what they had been moments ago, he took a much deeper sniff of the wind to see what he had caught.

_Crash._

His teacup fell to the floor and smashed into dozens of pieces, spilling steaming hot tea across the wooden floor…but that was now the least of his concerns.

Moving quickly, Keikai ran across his hut to the room where all of his mate's souvenirs were kept, searching fervently until he found what he was looking for.

The long and wide sheath was dusty, the weapon within it having lain undisturbed and unneeded for nearly fifty years, but this was not a time for reminiscence, he knew. Drawing it out and feeling along its edge to make sure that it had not lost its bite, Keikai grimly slung the massive kitsune-sized blade over his back and hefted it with ease as he darted back into the main room of the hut and down the tightly wound wooden staircase.

He heard the shouts and screams of his people before he had even gone out the door.

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><p>They heard the hooting and hollering shortly before they saw them, but even with the warning, nothing could have prepared the kitsune of Kawa Village for the sheer force of the attack the demons had brought upon them. With a roiling <em>CRASH,<em> the demons burst forth from the trees and lay into the shocked and surprised villagers with gleeful savagery, their battle cries soon mixing with horrified shouts as death and chaos quickly filled the inner parts of the village. Those kitsune lucky enough not to be caught in the initial charge were quick to respond, shifting into their fox forms for maximum combat efficiency and tearing into the demonic hordes with all due haste, doing what they could to buy enough time for those wounded or too young to fight to escape the carnage.

For a moment, it seemed as though the mighty and powerful kitsune would quickly turn back the tide of the charge…but that was before a bellowing roar split the air. Blasting through the forest and emerging mightily into the fray, the Fire Beast reared its head as jets of flame flew from its nostrils, immediately tearing into the battling forces and setting both friend and foe alike instantly ablaze with demonic fire. Cutting a line straight through the mob like a knife through hot butter, the Fire Beast smashed through several huts on its way out, immediately transforming them into massive bonfires that only served to feed the ever-growing forest fire that was quickly spreading through the kitsune domain.

Soon, the air was filled with choking clouds of smoke and heat intense enough to singe the fur from any kitsune unfortunate enough to be knocked close to the blazing inferno. But the demons seemed to pay no heed to the smoke and fire, however; in fact, they appeared to be _relishing_ in it. The chaos was whipping the demonic horde into a frenzy, and with such a dangerous force arrayed against them, the kitsune found themselves losing ground faster than they were gaining it.

_SPLOOSH!_

Finally breaking the surface of the water after what seemed like an eternity, Alex felt Yuna release her grip over his nose and mouth, the kitsune princess immediately dragging him onto land and letting him fall onto his hands and knees as he hacked and coughed.

"Damn _*cough*_ Yuna! Next time, WARN me before you do something _*hack*_ like that!" he snapped in between gasps of air, eventually looking up and noticing that she wasn't paying attention to him at all.

Rather, her gaze was focused further up the ridge…where a tremendous blaze was tearing through the forest, right where the kitsune village was located.

"…Holy shit…" he panted, slowly standing back up and moving next to her. "What the hell's going on?!"

"They're attacking the village…" she whispered. "No…"

Even in the dim glow of the distant fire, Alex could still see the emotions welling up inside her as she began to veritably shake where she stood.

"No…FATHER!" she shrieked, immediately taking off back up the trail that would take her to the village. Caught off guard, Alex made a wild grab to try and stop her, but missed by a mile and ended up falling back down again as he went off balance.

"Yuna, WAIT!" he shouted after her retreating form. "Don't run ahead! YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

If she heard him, she made no indication of it, and was out of sight in the instant after.

"_Dammit!"_ he thought angrily, pounding the ground with his fist as he stood back up. _"I have to go after her! There's no telling what she'll run into up there!"_

Making a grab behind his shoulder, Alex made the horrible discovery that he was missing Aku-Hametsu, and he swore loudly.

"_I must have left it in the hut! Well judging from the position of that fire, whatever's attacking the village hasn't gotten very far up the ridge yet…so if I sneak around, I might have a chance to get it back before getting into any fights! But then I'd be leaving Yuna alone in all this and-!"_

The last thing he wanted to do was leave Yuna in danger by herself, but at the same time, Alex knew that Aku-Hametsu was far too important of a weapon to just leave alone as well. It was a terrible decision that he had to make…but clenching his fists, Alex forced himself to try and see reason in all of the chaos.

"…_Son of a bitch! I can't leave Yuna alone, but I can't take the chance that one of those assassins or demons won't find Amunae either! I have to get Aku-Hametsu back first! It's the only way we'll stand a chance!"_

* * *

><p>Lazily opening her eyes, Miyu's first thought was that she had stumbled into some kind of nightmare, born of her past memories and coming back to haunt her…but a quick check revealed that Ren and her children where there right next to her, unharmed.<p>

It didn't change the fact that the distinctive red glow hanging over the more distant trees alluded to a raging fire, mixed with clouds of smoke so thick that she could almost _taste_ it in addition to smelling it.

Something was very wrong in Kawa Village…very, _very_ wrong.

"Ren…Ren, get up!" she finally spoke, standing up and nudging her mate with a paw.

"Huzbuughhhh…" the male kitsune mumbled incoherently, trying to scooch away from her irritating paw. "I think you might be burning dinner, my dear…"

"_Ren!_ This is not a dream! Wake up!" she insisted.

"…Mommy?" she heard one of her children speak drowsily, the kit waking up more easily than his dad. "What's going on?"

"Hush, child! Help me wake your father!" she spoke hurriedly, her sleepiness having been replaced with a spike of adrenaline as a feeling of dread began to awaken in her.

The kit set to tugging on his father's long ear, but his assistance soon wasn't needed…because the nearby trees suddenly seemed to uproot themselves violently, dirt spraying everywhere as they flew through the air and landed dangerously close, prompting a startled shout from Miyu as she reflexively fell over her family to protect them.

Standing in place of the uprooted trees was the silhouette of a creature clearly not of Nippon…a massive four-legged beast that also sported two muscular arms, each bearing a mighty iron club with an equally intimidating iron mask set over its horned head.

"…Mommy?!" the kit cried out in abject terror.

"REN!" Miyu shrieked as loudly as she could, finally getting her mate to react as his head shot up at the volume of her voice and looked around rapidly before finally settling on the demon.

With a bellowing roar, the Bull Charger reared up on its hind legs and barreled towards them, raising both clubs above its head for a killing blow.

Reacting as quickly as his powerful, agile body would allow him to, Ren stood up and, in a single sweeping motion, brought his seven tails around with all his force and shoved Miyu and all five of their children well out of the way…but in doing so, he left himself wide open to the Bull Charger's attack. With no time left to react, Ren could only stand his ground and quickly brace as the demon – easily one and a half times his size – slammed into him with devastating force, sending him flying through the air a short ways before he slammed into the dirt and skidded until hitting another nearby tree with enough force to nearly bend him backwards around it for a brief moment.

Pain lanced through him as the breath was driven from his body, stars dancing in his vision…but even after such a blow, he was still kicking. Shaking the disorientation from his head, Ren dismissed the pain from his mind and quickly pushed himself back onto his feet, his seven tails flaring out behind him as violet-colored foxfire sprang to life at the tips of each of them.

"I do not care HOW big you are…" he growled dangerously. "NO ONE harms my family!"

If the Bull Charger was intimidated by him, it showed no signs of it, instead clanging its two clubs together as it prepared to meet the kitsune's charge.

* * *

><p>Watching with an almost passive interest as the Fire Beast sped past a short distance away, its fire setting more and more of the forest alight with each passing second, Kurenai nonetheless ignored the blaze as he set off up the ridge towards the kitsune village, his scythe in hand and the blade glowing a dangerous red as its reflective black surface caught the glow of the raging fire.<p>

It had been far too long since he had gotten to experience a fight of this scale. Though he was an assassin, trained to use stealth and shadows to his advantage, he was also not above getting his hands dirty with some direct combat. As a matter of fact, he quite liked the sensation of his blade biting into an opponent's flesh…a rarely afforded opportunity, even in his line of work.

In a way, he supposed he was envious of Nobunaga's red-clad samurai.

_Shing!_ As through reacting entirely on instinct, Kurenai lashed out with his scythe, catching the legs of a four-tailed kitsune as it came tearing out of the forest fire right at him and sending it sprawling across the ground as the inside edge of the curved blade bit deeply into its forelegs.

_They were trained to rush into battle with sword raised high and a bellowing shout upon their lips, all pretenses of stealth abandoned as they tore into their enemies with almost reckless abandon. Theirs was as glorious task, a full-on battle of blood, fury, and duty to their clan._

The kitsune appeared half-crazed from the pain of its injuries, as Kurenai's hunter instincts were quick to tell, but that didn't stop the beast from coming at him again, the bleeding gashes across its limbs doing almost nothing to slow it down. Leaping high, its jaws bared as it aimed for a crushing bite at the assassin's neck, it found its efforts rebuffed as Kurenai leaned aside, quickly shifting the grip on his scythe in the blink of an eye and swinging an underhand strike…burying the massive blade deep within the kitsune's gut.

_His line of work, however, relied on entirely different tactics. Stealth. Subterfuge. Precision. A calm mind, and a steady hand. All of those things came into effect at some point during each task that was set for him…which meant very little in terms of straight fights and glory upon the battlefield._

With a savage, almost bestial roar, Kurenai tensed the muscles in his arms and _lifted _the kitsune straight off the ground with his scythe, heaving the impaled fox up and over his head, and slamming it with brutalizing force into the ground on the other side of him.

If the first blow hadn't killed it, it was most certainly dead now.

_Therefore, it was very rarely that he was afforded an opportunity such as this: to take part in the battle itself, to feel the blood and glory of the fight as both ran like water throughout the warring sides._

Looking up as a keening cry reached his ears, Kurenai brought his arm up as another kitsune – likely a friend of the one he had just killed – flew at him and latched onto his wrist, its canine teeth digging into the chainmail and metal of his gauntlet. But instead of panicking like anyone else would have, Kurenai allowed his hunter instincts to once again take over. Leaving his scythe impaled in the dead kitsune's body, the hunter-assassin went for his knife instead, smoothly drawing the jagged obsidian blade from its sheath and jamming it once, twice, _three times_ into the fox's midsection before flipping it into a reverse grip, raising his arm, and slamming the point of it straight down into its eye…the one spot on its face not protected by its mask.

Blood spurted through the small space between them. Kurenai could feel it pasting against his armor as the fox let off a bellowing shriek and released his arm, stumbling back as it pawed at the gaping wound that used to be its left eye, its lifeblood pouring from the multiple stab wounds.

Sheathing the knife with a single movement, Kurenai went for his scythe again, grabbing its haft in both hands, tearing it free from the body, and letting off a savage snarl as he dragged the weapon's blade across the ground, carving a furrow into the dirt as he charged straight for the beast. At the last second, he swung it around and upwards in a devastating uppercut strike, the outer edge of the blade slicing a massive gouge into the kitsune's chest with enough force to knock its front end up and send it reeling backwards on its hind legs.

But he wasn't done there. In his split second opening, Kurenai went with the blade's upwards momentum, bringing it up and around once more, this time angling it for a diagonal swing.

_Crunch!_ The blade's point slammed down into the kitsune's muscular neck, burying itself all the way up to the haft and slicing down into the chest cavity.

_That was why he had become a hunter...the life of an assassin simply was not enough for the likes of him. He wanted something MORE, something that would calm the wrathful, savage tendencies within him without utterly destroying the position he had made for himself among both the demons and his own people…without allowing him to fall into a more primal state._

_Because above all else, his own people were what mattered to him, and the future he would build for them would be a future free of the sort of horrendous bloodshed men like him were capable of…no matter the cost._

"HAAAAAAH!"

Slamming his elbow down on the scythe's haft as hard as he possibly could, Kurenai drove the weapon's massive blade down the kitsune's frail and broken body, tearing completely through it and ending the creature's misery once and for all.

He stood there, his breathing both heavy and even, as he stood over his two kills. His bloodstained gauntlets remained tightly wrapped around the haft of his scythe, kitsune blood dripping off the savage edge of the blade. Slowly standing straight again, he leaned his head back as far as his unique helmet would let him and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

He smelled blood.

Smoke.

Fire.

_Carnage._

It was glorious.

Opening his eyes and looking back to the path ahead, Kurenai moved forward, up the hill…and towards a certain large hut overlooking the entirety of the bowl-shaped valley.

Whether it was by luck or chance, no other kitsune stepped forward to challenge him. Oh, he saw them in battle, fighting the demons or attempting to stymie the fires burning their forest home down, but not a single one of them even attempted to stop him.

Perhaps it was the blood covering his armor. Perhaps it was fate's decision, to leave him merely warmed up for the fight ahead…the one he could see coming from a mile away, the one that his pride as a leader of the Black Hand would not allow him to pass up.

And before much time had passed, he found himself standing in front of what could only have been the Chieftain's hut.

As fate would have it, the leader of the kitsune just happened to be leaving his hut at this time, a massive blade slung over his back as he moved to the village's defenses. That was when he spotted the assassin, and stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in a sort of furious surprise when he noticed the blood staining Kurenai's armor.

Fingering the haft of his scythe, Kurenai looked him in the eye, and spoke in a calm drawl:

"Going somewhere?"

The chieftain studied him for a moment, his expression shifting to a narrow-eyed anger as he bared his canine teeth from behind his mask.

"…Am I to assume that you are the one responsible for this attack?" Keikai finally spoke, gesturing to the raging fire in the valley behind the hunter-assassin.

"I am," Kurenai replied simply, nodding, but not taking his eyes off the kitsune for even a second.

There was a sudden flurry of movement from the chieftain's side as he pulled the massive glaive off of his back and swung it, flinging the sheath off of it and sending it flying off to the side where it wouldn't be needed.

"Then fortune favors me, for you have saved me the trouble of having to track you down!" Keikai declared with furious anger tingeing his voice, hefting the multi-edged blade with a strength that betrayed the power of his otherwise simple human form.

Kurenai responded by sucking in a dry breath and making a _tsk-tsk_ sound as he wagged his finger back and forth. "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you…" he spoke.

"Spare me your warnings! You come and attack MY people without provocation, and for what purpose?! Gold? Food?" Keikai snarled, still holding his blade at the ready and keeping his eyes firmly locked on the assassin as if daring him to make a move.

"Would you believe me if I told you that _all this…" _Kurenai began, spreading his arms wide as he gestured at the chaos behind him, "…was all for one person in particular?"

Keikai began to look confused, though his blade didn't lower an inch.

"I know. Flattering, isn't it?" Kurenai continued. "That a mere boy would arouse such ire from the Lord of the Black Hand himself? He should feel honored to have attracted so much attention!"

Kurenai's look turned serious all of the sudden, and his scythe went into his other hand as he calmly passed it over.

"And you should feel honored for playing host to such a spectacular show of force!" he declared, pointing straight at the kitsune for effect.

"To the Land of Darkness with your _show of force!"_ Keikai snarled. "This is MY village, and I will not allow it to be destroyed by a damned, arrogant _HUMAN!"_

Faster than any normal human eye would have likely been able to track, the kitsune chieftain lunged for his opponent, glaive outstretched into a forward stab that would take the assassin's head clean off…had the assassin in question not been so quick as well. Leaning out of the way of the strike, Kurenai felt the wind of the mighty sword through the cracks of his fully encasing helm as it passed over his left shoulder with barely and inch to spare.

"_My turn…"_

Jamming the haft of his scythe into the dirt behind him to counteract the momentum of his heavy lean, Kurenai used the weapon as a support as he lashed out with a sideways kick that slammed into Keikai's stomach, the kitsune human wheezing as the wind was knocked out of him. Using the brief opportunity he had, Kurenai brought his scythe to bear for a strike…but before he was able to do so, he spotted something.

A faint wavering in the air, surrounding the chieftain like an aura.

Reacting on assassin instincts once more, Kurenai loosened his grip on the scythe just enough that the weapon slid down in his hands…enough to make his next attack, a backwards strike with the butt of the weapon, all the more effective.

"OOF!"

Kurenai could only smile at his own skill as he felt the weapon connect with the kitsune's gut, for real this time, the fox having been caught off guard by the assassin's quickly adapted attack.

Wasting no time, Kurenai spun around with the scythe in tow, aiming for a short-ranged horizontal strike, but Keikai again foiled his efforts, albeit in a much more desperate fashion as the kitsune heaved himself backwards in what could have been considered more of a stumble than a dodge. But regardless of how ungraceful it was, it still got him out of Kurenai's range just in the nick of time.

"Hmph…" Kurenai sneered, standing back up straight as he regarded his opponent, Keikai grasping at his bruised gut. "Fast and cunning…but not enough of both, it would seem."

"Perhaps...and perhaps not," Keikai spat out. "But you have yet to fully see what I am capable of, _murderer!"_

"Ooh, a harsh choice of words. I prefer to see myself as more of an…_opportunist,"_ Kurenai countered, appearing very relaxed about the whole thing.

"Does an opportunist slay dozens of innocents within their own home?"

"If he must."

"I see…then it seems you will have to consider me an opportunist as well, then."

"Oh?"

"Yes…" Keikai growled, his voice having suddenly gotten much lower in pitch. _"For I will do as I must as well!"_

Kurenai saw the air shimmer just a fraction of a second before the kitsune's declaration…and by the time the fox had finished, he was already moving, the Spidersilk Cloak flying out around him as he spun away and the air around him was consumed within the fury of a raging inferno.

* * *

><p>Bearing witness to the horrors that were being committed upon her village, it was all Yuna could do to keep from falling to her knees and screaming out in anguish, as the home she had known for over three centuries was being burned to the ground around her. Barring that, she had no choice but to steel herself and press onward, doing what she could to keep her breathing even as smoke filled the air and threatened to smother her if she stopped for even a second.<p>

Having not expected to be attacked, however, she had not thought to bring her bow or hunting knife with her when going out on that little excursion with Alex, meaning that her only means of defense were her teeth, claws, and wits.

Fortunately, she was armed with plenty of all three.

Hearing conflict up ahead, she leapt upon the large rock she was coming up on and ran up its slanted surface before leaping again, catapulting herself high into the air above the group of imps that were unfortunate enough to be the first target of the kitsune princess' wrath.

WHAM!

Shifting into her full fox form, Yuna slammed down onto the first imp with all of her might, her maw latched around it's throat and digging in powerfully as they both went to the ground. The other imps, reacting to her presence with frenzied shrieks, moved to attack her, but she was already ahead of them. Whipping her three long tails around, their tips glowing with ghostly white flames as she summoned her innate ability of kitsune foxfire, she lashed out with them and struck three of her attackers, instantly setting them ablaze and making them panic and run wildly in circles. With three of them essentially out of the fight and the rest suddenly not looking so keen on fighting her, she had plently of time to crush the throat of the imp in her jaws and toss its limp body aside, bearing her bloodstained teeth in possibly the most intimidating snarl the imps had even seen in their lives.

Seconds later, she was alone, the survivors having fled and leaving her with only the corpses of the ones she had skillfully dealt with.

Smirking to herself, she prepared to move on when she suddenly heard the telltale sound of a bowstring being drawn back.

Scampering as quickly as she could on her four feet, she barely managed to dodge the black arrow that had been aimed for the back of her head, the projectile instead nicking her large ear as it went by and tearing off a portion of the skin. Wincing at the pain as she felt the blood dripping off, she turned to face her new attacker, one of the black-garbed assassins that had apparently come with the purpose of singling Alex out, given what she had heard from both instances at the river. She didn't know what they wanted with him, but they were still here, attacking her home and her people...which meant that she had little choice but to enact vengeance upon them as well!

Realizing he had been spotted, the assassin moved to switch to his sword, but she was already moving. Shifting once more into her hybrid form, Yuna took off from a crouched position, sprinting straight for the man as he quickly slipped his bow over his shoulder and went for the hilt of his blade.

He managed to get about an inch of it out before she leapt into the air again and slammed into his chest with both footpaws, using all the strength in her powerful legs to kick off and send him sprawling to the ground as she flipped backwards with all the grace of her heritage and landed upright, falling into a fighting stance as he gasped for air and tried to struggled to his feet. Not planning on letting the assassin recover, she quickly moved forward again, the man drawing his arm back and letting loose with a wild punch as she drew close.

Yuna's speed and balance once again proved superior, the kitsune leaning to the side in mid-step and feeling the assassin's fist just barely bush the fur on the side of her head. Stepping inside his reach, she quickly wrapped her arm around his to prevent him from getting it back and slammed the other hand into the underside of his arm, her strike rewarded with a loud crack as his elbow dislocated from the strength of the hit.

Grunting in pain, but surprisingly not yelling out loud, the assassin bit through the pain and yanked back harder than she expected him to be able to withstand, making her stumble off balance. Striking out with his other fist and catching her right across the muzzle, the assassin sent the much lighter kitsune stumbling away and grabbed for his knife, drawing it with his good hand and lunging for a backstab.

At the last second, she fell into a crouch, the knife going right over her head. Putting her fist into her other palm, she wound up and elbowed him in the gut with the strength from both arms, making him wheeze and bend over enough for her to grab his arm and yank down with it, sending him up and over her shoulder to slam into the ground. Without releasing his arm, she quickly slid up and wrapped her legs around it for leverage, twisting as hard as she could until the knife fell from his grasp and straight into her waiting hand.

"No, wait-!" he began, but the knife had already found his heart. Three times, in fact, as she stabbed him repeatedly to make sure he died, each one punctuated with a vicious snarl.

Knowing that she couldn't afford to waste much more time, she kept the assassin's knife and grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows for good measure, quickly slinging both on before taking off into the woods again.

* * *

><p>Thinking back, Alex figured it was somewhere in between a stroke of pure luck and a divine miracle that Yuna had given him armor that had clearly been designed with stealth in mind. It helped put his mind slightly more at ease as he ducked between trees and avoided the well-lit areas of the forest as demons continued to ravage the kitsune village…but it still didn't change the fact that the demons were <em>here<em>, having appeared seemingly out of thin air to assault his newfound – if somewhat secretive – allies.

"_Dammit! It's Kusa Village all over again!" _he thought to himself more than once, checking to make sure the coast was clear before darting to the next hiding spot along his path towards Yuna's hut, where Aku-Hametsu lay. _"And I'm willing to bet that the same guys responsible for that attack probably thought up this one too! Goddamn assassins!"_

Watching the demons tear up the forest around him, knowing that Kurenai and his assassins were somewhere out there as well, created a very peculiar sensation to rise up inside him…one that he hadn't experienced often beforehand, yet knew what it was instantly.

Pure rage.

Why did the Black Hand want him so damn badly? Why did they have to attack the kitsune that had taken him in and protected him? Why was it that THEY had to pay for sheltering him in the time of his greatest need?!

Darting behind another tree and holding his breath as a pack of imps went scurrying by, hooting and hollering wildly, Alex closed his eyes and tried to focus.

"_You're not going to accomplish anything by getting mad! Remember what Amunae told you…don't let your emotions take control! Listen to your instincts and follow them to the letter, because they probably know the situation a lot better than your emotions do!"_ he thought to himself, trying to calm down and still his beating heart as the demons moved away from his hiding spot.

"…_Right now, my gut's telling me to get Aku-Hametsu back before some demon or assassin finds it. Once that's done, THEN I can start looking for Yuna…and Ammy and Oki, wherever the hell they are."_

Alex knew that the goddess and the Oina warrior would be able to handle themselves – he had witnessed their combat prowess firsthand – but it was _Yuna_ that he was really worried about. He had heard a thing or two about how she had fought off the assassins while rescuing him…but assassins were an entirely different matter when compared to Kurenai.

Remembering his fight with the assassin commander down in the caves, Alex had to suppress a shudder as he moved up the ridge. Kurenai was on a whole other level of skill in combat, and if Yuna's shout before she ran off was any indication, she would be heading right for where her father was.

Right to where Kurenai was most likely waiting as well.

The thought was enough to make him double-time it up the hill, abandoning most pretenses of stealth as the healer kitsune's hut came in to view. Fortunately, from what he could see, this part of the forest seemed relatively abandoned, and none of the demons seemed to have made it up this far yet, meaning that his sword was likely still waiting for him inside.

Pushing aside the curtain and stepping inside without a moment's hesitation, Alex immediately spotted the sheathed katana resting against the wall, right where he had left it, and a sigh of relief escaped his lungs. One less thing to worry about.

"Boy, Amunae, am I glad to see you!" he said, stepping forward and reaching his hand out towards the blade.

"_Behind you!"_

Alex's face crinkled in confusion, a split-second before he heard the scrape of a footstep behind him, and a powerful arm suddenly wrapped itself around his neck in a chokehold.

Thinking fast, his reflexes having fortunately been honed by Amuane's exhaustive training sessions, Alex managed to get his arm up in a partial block, forcing the assassin that had snuck up behind him to reach around it and giving Alex leverage to keep himself from being caught in a hold that would almost certainly be followed up with a backstab from a knife.

His assumption range true, as he flung his free arm behind him and barely intercepted the incoming backstab, the assassin grunting with surprise as Alex's hand grabbed his wrist and began struggling with him for control over the dagger. Knowing that he was in a compromised position, even with his counters, Alex's first move was to try and get the assassin on even ground with him…and to do that, he had to get the assassin in _front _of him.

Grunting as he struggled with the assassin, Alex brought his leg out in front of him and kicked backwards as hard as he could, the shaped heel of his armor's boot connecting solidly with the assassin's foot at the same time that he yanked himself forward as hard as he could the throw his attacker off-balance. Thankfully, it worked just like it had in Amunae's training, for the assassin went up and over Alex's back, rolling across it and landing awkwardly on his feet as he was flung off the other side. Clearly more used to that kind of counterattack than most, the assassin was still able to retain his footing and used the opportunity to yank himself out of Alex's grip…but at least now, the young man could see his attacker and fight him head on.

"_Alex, the sword! Grab the sword and use it!"_ Amunae yelled in his mind.

"_I can't, he's in the way!"_

"_Then get him OUT of the way!"_

"_God DAMMIT!"_ Alex yelled back, as the assassin darted forward with a quick stab of his knife, which Alex barely managed to dodge out of the way of. He wasn't nearly as skilled in hand-to-hand fighting as he was with a sword in hand, but a quick realization reminded him that he still had his rosary on hand, which could come in handy if he could find the right moment to strike with it…but this was close range, nearly point-blank with his opponent. Unless he somehow managed to gain some distance, it wasn't likely that he'd be able to make much use of the weapon.

Unless…

With barely a whisper of sound and a sharp breath, the assassin struck again, forcing Alex to dodge again…only this time, instead of playing keep-away, Alex leaned into the assassin's arm as the stab went by him, grabbing his arm and twisting around with as much momentum as his bodyweight would allow. As he thought, the much lighter and lightly-armored assassin went right with him, Alex letting go at just the right moment and sending the man stumbling away towards the door to the hut. Quickly going into his planned combo, Alex immediately summoned his rosary with a thought and lashed out with it, wrapping the weapon around the assassin's leg and yanking back as hard as he could.

With a heavy _"Whoof!"_, the assassin fell onto all fours as his leg went right out from under him, causing him to drop his knife and staggering him for just a moment...long enough for Alex to immediately turn and go for Aku-Hametsu.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Alex yanked the sheath off and turned just in time to see the assassin on his feet again and rushing him with his own sword drawn, bloodlust in his exposed eyes, seen through the leering gaze of his skull mask.

"_Let your instincts guide you! Strike fast and true!"_

Before he could even consider what he was about to do, Alex spun and slashed Aku-Hametsu out in front of him…

…and impaled his attacker through the gut.

Just like that, everything stopped, as the horrible truth dawned on Alex about what he had just done.

The assassin's blade, having been shoved off to the side by Alex's attack, clattered to the ground as the man's hand lost the strength to hold it…the assassin looking straight into Alex's eyes as if to ask "…how?"

And as though by pure instinct, Alex pulled back and tore the blade from the man's flesh, letting his body drop to the floor. Aku-Hametsu followed seconds later, the crimson-stained blade clattering to the ground next to the assassin's lifeless body as Alex stumbled backwards and landed in Yuna's hammock, hands clenching both sides of his head as memories from that fateful night resurfaced…of him, sitting among the bodies of the Black Hand soldiers, the first human beings he had killed with his own two hands, even though he hadn't been in his right mind at the time.

But this time, he had…this time, he had taken a human life completely of his own accord.

"_Oh god…please…not again…"_

"_Young one…"_

He didn't respond right away to Amunae's words.

"_Alexander."_

The mention of his name caught his attention, and he barely managed a response.

"_Retrieve Aku-Hametsu."_

Taking a deep breath, Alex looked away, refusing to stare at the blood-soaked blade.

"Why should I?" he mumbled, shaking his head. "So I can kill more assassins?"

"_So that I may speak with you more clearly."_

Unsure of what the fox was getting at, Alex nonetheless didn't have much else of a choice…he was starting to hear loud noises approaching from far away, indicating that perhaps the fight that the rest of the village was involved in was getting further up the ridge, closer to where he was. Reaching down, he slowly and reluctantly grabbed Aku-Hametsu and brought it up, the glow of the forest fires outside reflecting upon the weapon's now-slicked surface.

"_You did well."_

"Is that supposed to calm me down or something?"

"_No. It is merely a recognition of your growing skill."_

"Amunae, in case you didn't notice, I just _killed_ another human being! You think I give a shit about _skill?!"_

"_Remember what Amaterasu told you, young one. Do not grieve for this man's passing."_

"Easy for you to say! You didn't have to shove your sword through his gut!"

"_Alexander…stop."_

The quiet, yet commanding tone of Amunae's voice made whatever retort Alex had stop dead before he could say it.

"_Young one, I understand how you feel. Your feelings over killing another of your kind is born out of a strong respect for life…even that of your enemies. That is not a weakness, but neither is it something that you should dwell on. As Amaterasu said, this is something that will happen whether you will it to or not. It is an inevitable outcome of the conflict we are in, and it will only happen more and more as time goes on. You cannot avoid it, for it will find you wherever you go. Such is the nature of our battle."_

"…Well what if I don't _want_ to be part of _your_ battle?" Alex retorted, once the fox had finished.

Silence from the kitsune spirit…but this time, Alex could tell that it wasn't intentional. His words had had some sort of stunning effect on the fox, that had killed whatever words he had been about to speak.

Taking a deep breath, and standing up, Alex grabbed one of the cloth wrappings on the table that Yuna normally reserved for bandages and set to wiping the blood off of Aku-Hametsu.

"Look, Amunae…I know what kind of promise I made, and believe me, I'm going to help you kill Orochi if it's the last thing I do…but after that…I just don't know."

He knew the fox heard him, but still, the spirit remained silent, as though pondering his words. In the meantime, Alex avoided looking at the corpse at his feet as he retrieved the sword's sheath and slung it over his back again. As much as he didn't want to continue, he knew there was still a battle to be fought…and there was still truth to the kitsune's words. This was something that was going to keep happening and happening, as long as the Black Hand knew he was still alive.

And as morbid as it sounded, he was just going to have to get used to it.

"_Hand on, Yuna…wherever you are, I'm coming!"_ he thought to himself, praying that the kitsune princess was still alright as he darted out the door and straight into the raging conflict that had consumed the village.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's that. Another cliffhanger. Honestly, have you expected anything else from me? *shot dead again*<strong>

**Anyways, rate, review, all that good stuff, and I'll see you next time. Man, it feels good to be back! Just don't expect an update within two weeks, I've sorta given up on that whole deadline nonsense...I'll update it when I can.**


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